Experiencing Interruptions?

Death of a Father

When Babu's father passes away, he is caught in a web of age-old rituals and social formalities. As he looks for opportunities to cope with the loss of his father, death ends up being just another mundane routine for Babu.

  • Somnath Pal
    Director
    Court (Production Designer), Sons of Ram (Assistant Director)
  • Somnath Pal
    Writer
    Court (Production Designer), Sons of Ram (Assistant Director)
  • Chaitanya Tamhane
    Producer
    Court (Writer, Director) , Six Strands (Writer, Director)
  • Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films
    Producer
  • Ratnabali Bhattacharjee
    Key Cast
    Bombay Talkies (Actress), The Epiphany (Actress), Sold (Actress)
  • Paromita Chatterjee
    Key Cast
  • Deeganto Joardar
    Visual Artists
  • Rohan Baikar
    Visual Artists
  • Pracheta Banerjee
    Visual Artists
  • Anisha Sirur
    Visual Artists
  • Somnath Pal
    Visual Artists
  • Naveen Boktapa
    Compositor
  • Somnath Pal
    Animation
  • Saurabh Vashishtha
    Animation
  • Swati Addanki
    Animation
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 16 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 10, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Language:
    Bengali, English, Hindi
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Festival d'Annecy
    Annecy
    France
    June 11, 2018
    Official Selection
  • TBS Digicon6 Asia Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    November 17, 2018
    Grand Gold Prize
  • Animation Chico
    Chico, CA
    United States
    December 8, 2018
    Winner, Best Animated Short
  • New Chitose Airport International Animation Film Festival
    Chitose, Hokkaido
    Japan
    November 5, 2018
    Japan Premiere
    New Chitose Airport Award
  • Paris International Animation Film Festival
    Paris
    France
    September 21, 2018
    Grand Prix Ex-Aequo, Prix Cinémas du Monde
  • Athens International Film and Video Festival
    Athens, Ohio
    United States
    April 9, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Trickfilm Festival, Stuttgart
    Stuttgart
    Germany
    April 25, 2018
  • Anima Mundi
    Rio de Janerio
    Brazil
    August 23, 2018
  • Cardiff Animation Festival
    Cardiff, Wales
    United Kingdom
    April 20, 2018
    UK Premiere
    Official Selection
  • DC Independent Film Festival
    Washington DC
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Athens Animfest
    Athens
    Greece
    March 15, 2018
    Official Selection
  • 24FPS 2017 International Animation Awards
    Mumbai
    India
    Best Animated Short Film (Studio/Professional)
  • 1st Chania Cartoon and Animation Festival
    Chania
    Greece
    December 19, 2017
    Official Selection
  • 19th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival
    Mumbai
    October 13, 2017
    World Premiere
  • South Asia Short Film Competition
    Ooty
    India
    December 8, 2017
  • Dharmashala International Film Festival
    Dharmashala
    India
    November 4, 2017
  • Animatricks Animation Festival
    Helsinski
    Finland
    April 28, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Northwest Animation Festival
    Portland & Eugene
    United States
    May 23, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Indie-Anifest
    Seoul
    Korea, Republic of
    September 14, 2018
    Asian Premiere
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films
    Country: India
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Somnath Pal

Somnath Pal graduated with a degree in animation from IDC, IIT Bombay. He later served as an Assistant Director on Amar Chitra Katha's theatrical animation feature 'Sons of Ram', and as a Production Designer on the multi award winning feature film 'Court'. 'Death of a Father' marks his debut as an animation filmmaker.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Through a restrained but nuanced narrative, I wanted to highlight the empty experience surrounding the loss of a dear one in 'Death of a Father'.
Been brought up as a Bengali in Lucknow and having experienced a dilution of cultural traditions, I wanted to have it as the undertone in the film. Babu, my protagonist becomes the essential tool to observe the banality that surrounds death in such a cultural context.