Memorials intimately renders an evening in the life of K as he finds himself nudged to deepen his preoccupation with loss. Finding his pet fish dead on returning home sets the tune of his evening. Seeing the tiny uninhabited carcass, now just demarcating the shape of an absence, he is moved by the mundanity and unceremonious reality of death. He responds by enacting various rituals to trace an imprint of the life, the only testimony of which will soon perish. In an effort to commemorate or to defer the parting, he transforms the death into artefacts which he can hold on to. Later, he is tempted to open an old almirah in a corner of his room where belongings of his late father are stashed away. The rituals then continue and evolve to attest his nuanced relations to death as it takes new forms in the course of the evening.
Director’s Statement
My interest in films developed around the time I started introducing myself as a post-art-ist. Contemporary visual art packed in white cubes had started to seem suffocating, and I found myself looking for other avenues for action and expression. Eventually, film happened. I found the concept of Memorials to be particularly suited for my first major work in film. The transient story and the familiar conceptual core made sure I could focus on the expression with the least formal baggage. I spent several months working on the concept and developing it into a cohesive narrative. Meanwhile with Kundo Yumnam, my wife and fellow artist, also the Assistant Director of this film, I was working out a production plan with an absolutely-no-frills budget and a focus on a stress-free working environment.
I see my entry into filmmaking as a natural evolution of my art practice to address the challenges of putting across an expression. The concept for Memorials actually has roots in the contents of my earlier artworks. And as it turned out, it ended up featuring two of my pronouncedly recurring motifs: Fish and Death.
Korou Khundrakpam
Writer Director Producer
Memorials is Korou Khundrakpam’s debut short film. A graduate in fine arts from College of Art, Delhi, Korou has been working in various mediums such as painting, installation, new-media-art, photography, and writing. His latest work in film marks a significant milestone in his practice as it extends to experiment with the particularities of this form.
Korou has worked extensively in visual arts and has been a part of many prominent exhibitions and projects. His works has been exhibited/featured at World of Wearable Art ,New Zealand; Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata; Exhibit320, New Delhi; Religare Art, New Delhi; and AHAF, Seoul. He has worked in several art projects with Kundo Yumnam as a collective called Amasoong and was part of TheWhyNotPlace project of Religare Art as resident artist. Aside from making films, Korou is developing an exhibition/performance/activity space in Manipur, India.
Kundo Yumnam
Co-Producer
Kundo started her studies in the arts with a degree in fashion designing at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi. Later she joined Lasalle College of Arts, Singapore as a student of Bachelor of Arts (painting) in 2008. She has been practicing and exhibiting in India since the last few years. She has exhibited at Contemplate, organised by Coimbatore Centre for Contemporary Arts at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, in February 2011. Earlier she exhibited with Exhibit 320 at AHAF, Seoul, South Korea, in August 2010. In March 2010 she was a part of the exhibition, Let's Talk, curated by Ranjita Chaney at Exhibit 320, New Delhi. She also participated in Montana WOW Grand Finale, held in New Zealand in 2007.
Written & Directed by
Korou Khundrakpam
Produced by
Kundo Yumnam & Korou Khundrakpam
Naoba Thingujam
as K
Cinematography & Editing
Korou Khundrakpam
Assistant Cinematographer
Seonath Wakrambam
Music
The Koi
Sound Mixing & Mastering
Sunil Loitongbam
Thanks to
David Laishram
Nongpok Arambam
Rishikesh Thangjam
Ratika Yumnam
and Special Thanks to
Roshan Takhellambam
&
The Takhellambam Family
Light & Equipments
BK & Warakki
Recording Studio
Hayum Studio
Editing & Colouring
Warakki home studio
