But Murali, now working in London, is unlikely to have immediate money problems. The Camera d'Or goes with US $50,000 and Kodak adds £30,000 (they were relieved to hear Murali had not used a competitor's stock to shoot his film). He had already sold important distribution rights before the awards night, in retrospect a bit of a pity.
Marana Simhasanam is the story of a landless tiller in an island community of Kerala. Caught stealing, he is framed for murder. It is election time and politicians take up his cause to win votes. He is set up to be the first man in the country to die in the 'Electronic Chair', a device imported as a humane alternative to hanging. Murali was asked what had prompted his first feature and its curious theme. Kerala, he said, is at a new low in its polity. Against that backdrop, I wanted to show the individual and his suffering. I know the area and its culture well; I suppose that helps. In his acceptance speech, he dedicated his Camera d'Or to the village community he had shot and, at the press conference, disavowed family relationship to Mira Nair, winner of the same award in 1988. Murali now goes to London to ponder his next film and an active festival and distribution circuit to come.
