Kannada film makes it to prestigeous film festival

Ananya Kasaravalli began work on her directorial debut,

Harikatha Prasanga

, exactly a year ago. Now, the film has made it to the

Busan

Film Festival and boasts being the first Kannada film to make the cut. The film, which deals with the life of Hari, a

Yakshagana

artiste who is known to play female roles, and his gender-identity crisis, has been generating buzz among cinephiles of the festival circuit.

'It is a big deal to have made it to Busan. This is a big opening for us and many have since taken the film seriously. Given that Busan is considered the

Cannes

of the East, this festival is going to be crucial. We have a few more festivals lined up for the next four months, and we will be travelling to many places,' says Ananya.

The film has Shrunga of

Paraari

fame playing Hari. 'My father (Girish Kasaravalli) saw the first cut and said that he was excited for me and happy with the way the film turned out. He also told me that the film is going to make an impression on the festival circuits,' says Ananya.