The London Indian Film Festival - Screening of ILAI (LEAF)

Tamil with English subtitles l 67 mins l India l
Dir. Rajiv Reddy Pochareddy l with Manjula Odanadi,
Pritham Charavarthy, Mighty Gibson.

With great pathos, and a riveting narrative, Ilai (Leaf) encapsulates the stories of many thousands of Indians arriving in the big cities each year, in the hope of a better future, or sometimes just by chance. Often their only baggage is a troubled past. We are introduced to one such story, a lonely little girl from the countryside who accidentally finds herself in a bustling metropolis. The girl can't speak the city's language, or understand its high-speed ways. She wanders the mean streets to find shelter, but soon realises she must enlist the help of others, including a homeless old woman to ensure her survival.

Ilai (Leaf) is screening with a short film - FOREST MAN | Dir. William Douglas McMaster. A doc. based on the true story of a man who planted an Indian forest from scratch.