Online May 2 - 4
Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation
Indie Meme Special 10th Year
Retrospective Showcase
Pebbles
India | Narrative Feature
2021 | 75 mins | Tamil
Limited tickets available on site.
Winner of the 'Tiger Award' at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam 2021, Netherlands, held in February 2021
Winner of the PREMIO SNCCI “Best Feature Film” adjudged by the National Syndicate of Italian Film Critics at ShorTS International Film Festival 2021, Italy held in July 2021
Winner of the 'Audience Award' at Burgas International Film Festival 2021, Bulgaria held in July 2021
A hot-tempered alcoholic father drags his reticent son to a distant village to fetch back his wife whom he had chased away. But when the encounter turns ugly, the journey home through unforgiving Tamil Nadu barrens is fraught with the sweat and smudge of the deserted terrain where the land and human emotions lay brazenly palpable in the scorching heat.
Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film.
Restoration Process
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Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation
The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing.
Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram.
Meet Specific Thing
About the Artist
Photo courtesy:
Film Heritage Foundation
Vinothraj P S is a filmmaker hailing from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. He dropped out of
school when he was in class IV owing to poverty. To overcome the financial difficulties at
home, he opted to become a child laborer at the age of 8 and worked in a textile factory until he turned 19. To eke out a living, he then sold DVDs at a roadside shop in Chennai.
During this time, he was introduced to a few people from the Tamil film industry and joined several projects as an assistant director to Mr. Sargunam, a Tamil filmmaker. He began to assistant direct for ‘Manal Magudi’, a post-modernist theatre troupe ,and utilized his time during this venture to shoot a few short films.
His debut feature ‘Koozhangal’ (Pebbles) premiered at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, where it went on to win the coveted Tiger Award and gain worldwide acclaim.
Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation
Trailer
Credits
Director:
Vinothraj P S
Writer:
Vinothraj P S
Producers:
Vignesh Shivan & Nayanthara
Film Editor:
Ganesh Siva
Karuththadaiyaan
Chellapandi
Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation
Restoration Credit:
Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul)