Kerala - Kozhikode   

Portraying unheard voices and unravelled lives

Staff Reporter

Printed Rainbowwas screened a second time on request from the audience

KOZHIKODE: "For people who live in less troubled regions, it is impossible to imagine the extent of anguish and violence the people of Manipur experience. I made Untitled: 3 Narratives on Women and Conflict in Manipur (a trilogy of short films) because of a very strong need to get the situation in that State to be seen by the people," says filmmaker Kavita Joshi, when asked what inspired her to make the telling narrative on the situation in Manipur.

Irom Sharmila, Manipuri woman who is on a six-year hunger strike to highlight the anguish of her counterparts in the State, is a protagonist featured in the trilogy that highlights the daily struggles of women in Manipur.

Kavita's film Women and Conflict in Manipur was the inaugural film at the Asian Women's Film Festival held in Kozhikode from November 4 to 7. It set the tone of the fete that sought to project exclusively the works of women from Asian countries with portrayals of "voices unheard and lives unravelled."

The festival package got up by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television was showcased under the aegis of the Women's Initiative, Kozhikode, Navatharangam, and the Cultural Initiative.

In a chat with The Hindu, Kavita spoke of how the rest of the country is unaware of what is happening in Manipur, even though the whole place has been burning for months on end with public anger and mass protests. "Young men setting themselves on fire, schoolchildren pouring out into the streets. All sections of society have come out to be part of the protest."

"In 2004, when trouble erupted yet again in Manipur with the custodial death and alleged rape of Manorama, nothing made it to the mainstream of the country. It was only when a group of Manipuri women marched naked a few days later that the incident briefly hit the headlines," Kavita adds.

"Manipur soon sank back to its marginalised oblivion. What I found most troubling was how the country simply ignored most of this."

The trilogy won the best film on human rights, besides accolades for excellence in editing.

Other films

Noted among the films screened at the festival was Gitanjali Rao's Printed Rainbow, the only Indian film to win an award at Cannes in 2006. Gitanjali portrays the tale of an old woman who escapes the drudgery of life through a collection of colourful matchbox pictures. The pictures transport her to an altogether different world.

Printed Rainbow, well received by the viewers, was screened a second time on request from the audience. Another film for which there was request for repeat screening was Sharira: Chandralekha's exploration of dance by Ein Lall.

The film showcases dancer-choreographer Chandralekha's mission to set free the body, allowing movements to flow.

The film examines three of her major works in spectacular visuals.

Also in the retrospective was My life as a poster (Shashwati Talukdar) which touches on the traumatic personal experiences of a woman through flashbacks of posters.

Lemon Yellow Afternoons (Monisha R. Baldawa), Quest (Taiwanese film), Altar (Leena Manimekalai), Biji - documentary on my grandmother (Dipti M. Panesar) were among the other films screened.

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