Balaji Vembu Chelli's 'Nilanadukkam' (The Tremor) has been selected for the prestigious Festival du nouveau cinema, to be held from October 7 till October 18 in Montreal in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The film is a surreal drama that joins 13 other international projects in the Temps Ø section of the festival. Founded in 1971, the Festival du nouveau cinema has introduced audiences to eminent independent filmmakers such as Pedro Almodovar, Atom Egoyan, Denis Villeneuve, Jane Campion, Chantal Akerman and Wim Wenders. The Temps Ø section in particular showcases cinematic experiments that depart from the norms.

Balaji Vembu Chelli's film was picked up by the NFDC Film Bazaar in 2019 and has since travelled to several international film festivals. 'Nilanadukkam' is a mystery/road movie runs for 70-minutes. The movie is about a catastrophe and the mystery around it, and is set in Kukkal, a village 35-40km from Kodaikanal.

“It revolves around a rookie photojournalist who is trying to get his first major break. The photojournalist is played by Rajeev Anand, who was the lead in Manusangada. A few theatre artistes and some locals from Kukkal have acted in the film,” says Balaji, who made handful of short-films and worked as an associate with director RS Prasanna for Prasanna starrer 'Kalyana Samayal Saadham'.

In an interview to leading portal, the director said that he is not attending the film festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This year, the organisers are going for hybrid screenings, with only the locals being allowed to watch them in the theatres; the other festival attendees will be watching the films online,” he explains

The film is co-produced by Vivek Krishna Ramanujam, Overturn Media, and Fly On The Wall Films. Vedaraman Sankaran is this film’s cinematographer. Dorai Prakash SA did the editing work and Maarten Visser has composed the film’s score.

Other films in the Temps Ø section of the festival include the captivating BOOK OF VISION, the thriller-like documentary CAUGHT IN THE NET, the sensory and metaphysic experience SIBERIA, the cult film IRRÉVERSIBLE - INVERSION INTÉGRALE, the iconic OUT OF THE BLUE as well as the comedies RED POST ON ESCHER STREET, SHELL AND JOINT, THALASSO, EFFACER L'HISTORIQUE, L'ENLEVEMENT DE MICHEL HOULLEBECQ, MANDIBULES, POSSONSEXE and MUSIC HOLE.