moment of innocence

scream of the ants

candles in the wind

finding mr right

The President

She has placed the film in the context of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and questions as to what it means to be sharing power with strong religious forces in our countries. “Today,” she says, “we can’t separate progress in one country from another. Just like Europe has realised it can’t afford to have poverty on its doorsteps and that’s why the war in Bosnia was resolved quickly. We too need to dwell upon how strife in one nation can be detrimental to another and remember that progress in one nation reflects on the other.”

Makhmalbaf feels that good cinema in the hands of a good director is like a mirror in the hand of God that must reflect truth. Often, the truth is unpalatable. He wonders aloud if that is the reason why his film Scream of the Ants, that maps the journey of an Iranian couple in India and brought out some unsavoury real truths, didn’t find many takers among film lovers here. But the world has looked and applauded when he made Kandhar, set in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. It went beyond the veil to talk of stifling oppression that women were subjected to. Artists, he nods, are as sensitive to pain as to beauty. But whether oppression is a mother to great art, he is not sure. “If I agree, it would mean it is a good thing.”

In the West, too, it doesn’t matter whether you are an Indian or European, white or black as long as you have a new story to tell. Shekhar Kapoor, acclaimed director

Our films have an interval, so it makes the task of our filmmakers doubly onerous for they need to build two graphs, one till the interval and another in the second half. Karan Johar, top filmmaker

Shekhar Kapoor, however, feels cinema must mirror the oppression of its times and even biopics such as his Bandit Queen were essentially about the oppressive caste system and not just a tale of a woman dacoit. Do all films at the film festival, particularly at IFFI, do so? Clearly, a festival that throws up over 350 films from as many as 79 countries, has space for some that make the grade only because that particular country makes so few films. Not all films follow the same thread, nor can all be exemplary. But most do look at reality in a way far removed from the manner in which we are used to watching.

For instance, how many mainstream films would dare to talk of the life of midgets? As the Bengali film The Short Story, an extremely compassionate look at those on the margins and one of the two Indian movies selected for the competition section, does.

 

Can cinema change people? “If cinema can change my mind, why not the mind of the audience? And when audiences change, they can change politics, which in turn can transform society,” asserts Mohsen Makhmalbaf. While this might be a committed maker’s utopian dream that propels him to make purposeful films, cinema is certainly not a stand-alone occurrence. Even Bollywood is often ridiculed for its themes, says Amitabh Bachchan, its biggest superstar, but has documented social changes and reflected the socio-political reality of India. Cinema, beyond holding up the mirror, can dent set notions, remove cobwebs and help shed prejudices. Made in China, and a treat Telling stories comes naturally to the Chinese too, with roots in ancient civilisations, mythology and spirituality. At least two films from China, which incidentally was the country in focus at the IFFI, even deal with subjects nearly in the same fashion as we do. Genuine Love, shown in the competition section, is a heartwarming story of love and sacrifice, emotions that Indians are so familiar with. So, like several Indian films narrating the travails of a poor couple who fights against adversities to raise a brood of homeless adopted children, it has all the right ingredients to tug at our heartstrings. Then, Finding Mr Right — a blockbuster in China — is a romcom about a middle-aged Chinese doctor in the US. And it could well be like a Karan Johar film with a twist here and there. With enough drama, even melodrama, the love story of a divorced father and a young mother is fashioned after our hearts. Cinema in fact not only enjoins us with the power of universal emotions, but also opens windows. The last word to Makhmalbaf again: “There are some touristy films which show a particular country at a narrow level and in a superficial light. Then there are films like Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali that become a country’s soul.” Finding the real in Punjabi films Anhe Ghode Da Daan Mainstream Punjabi cinema might shy away from delving and digging deep, but a very significant concern of farmers’ suicides sears across in a 52-minute documentary film Candles in the Wind. The heartrending account of famers’ widows and their adversities pierces hearts, moves minds and even a cinephile from Bangalore is forced to admit, “Till I saw this movie, I thought Punjab was a land of big cars and rich people.” Only two years ago, Gurvinder Singh’s Anhe Ghode Da Daan not only won the coveted Golden Peacock but created a buzz at several international film festivals, but it along with Anup Singh’s much-acclaimed Qissa are exceptions. And how can the rules change, questions Punjab’s most prolific producer Manjit Maan. She quips, “What can you expect in Punjab where most people don’t know who Waris Shah is, and officials don’t know what an entry in the Indian Panorama at IFFI stands for?” The question why Punjabi films don’t raise the bar and address concerns of people did crop up at the NFDC Film Bazaar, a parallel four-day event which primarily serves as a bridge between financiers and directors. Cinema Paradiso IFFI brings cinema from countries as diverse as Poland and Bangladesh, Pakistan and Chile and continues to grow bigger and bigger The Goa film festival attracts over 13,000 delegates and has been declared the permanent venue for IFFI

My kind of movies, and yours Does cinema of one country reflect on the other? Yes, and no. Certainly, as aspiring directors such as Jai Singh flock to IFFI to watch masters such as Polish filmmakers Krzysztof Zanussi and their acclaimed master strokes like Foreign Body, they believe that many lessons need to be learnt. That said, it is doubtful that surrealistic ideas as depicted in some European films such as Fields of Dogs and to some extent in I Am Not Lorena can be replicated closer home. Each country has its own cinema with its own flavour and, of course, language. Indian cinema, particularly Bollywood, stands apart not only for its song and dance routine but more importantly as big ticket director and producer Karan Johar says, “It has an interval, which no other films in the world have. So it makes the task of our filmmakers doubly onerous for they need to build two graphs, one till the interval and another in the second half.” Iranian cinema is different for sure and has almost acquired a cult status, becoming the toast of international film festivals thanks to makers like Makhmalbaf and Majid Majidi. Reasons Makhmalbaf, “To begin with, we had no idea what we were making was special. And it was bit by bit that it became our specialty and forte. Today, Iranian cinema stands out for its unique treatment, that could be poetic, realistic, neorealist or surrealistic. Of course, at the end of the day, cinema is all about telling stories, compellingly and powerfully and yes, differently.”