Fresh perspectives from Balkan countries
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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The Chennai film festival proved that there is a committed audience for parallel cinema.
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OSCAR-WINNER: No Man's Land
The best thing about the third edition of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF, December 17-25), organised by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation with corporate and government assistance, was the audience. On working day or weekend, even the morning shows drew eager crowds. The evening shows were packed. Unless you went early you had no hope of getting a seat for the Iranian films. And this was in December, a month choked with music, dance, theatre performances, lectures and other special screenings
in the city, which houses a mainstream film industry. Among the viewers were filmmakers and technicians who applauded every good shot.
The festival opened with ``Rosenstrasse" (Margarethe von Trotta, Germany 2003) and closed with ``Life is a Miracle" (Emir Kusturica, Serbia, 2005). Both were about unexpected happenings in the lives of unsuspecting individuals as war erupts. In ``Rosenstrasse," the `Aryan' wives of Jewish men fight to get their Jewish husbands released from the detention centre where they await transportation to Auschwitz. Their fearless protest works a miracle. Tauter editing and less sentiment may have strengthened this multiple award winner, but it's being based on true life courage touched hearts.
At certain times, certain parts of the world excel in filmmaking. France and Italy had their turns, so did Iran and Latin America. Now fresh perspectives come from the strife-ravaged Balkan nations. Oscar winning ``No Man's Land'' was no singular phenomenon. Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia have depicted their stories on the screen. CIFF brought a package from this region.
In the closing film, celebrated Serbian auteur Emir Kustirica takes an unlikely moment in the life of an engineer to see how war destroys the social fabric and the soul. Luka's mega project of a tourist railway linking a Bosnian town with the Adriatic sea is obstructed by political conflicts and mafia threats. The war robs him of wife, halts his project. Kusturica uses the historic moment to study the pain and bewilderment of individuals trapped by forces beyond their control or understanding.
Focus on Australia
The festival had a fine focus on Australia including ``Tom White," introduced by its young director Alkinos Tsilimidos.
A successful architect suddenly drops out of middle class work and family life to wander into Melbourne's underworld of druggies, pimps, tarts and other dregs of humanity. The violence is not frontal, but overpowering, as when a dog mauls a woman. Nothing new in the theme, but the sudden cracks of fury and warmth made interesting discords.
A single film from Poland, ``My Nikifor" (Krzysztof Krauze) focussed on the enigmatic legendary artiste Nikifor. The casting was unusual. A woman actor (Krystina Feldman) plays a gnomish man of stunted growth and eccentric habits. Consumptive Nikifor stubbornly occupies the studio of a young painter. He cannot be dislodged.
The young man gives up family and work to care for the waif. Their relationship, and Nikifor's great moment, make an offbeat but essentially human story.
Versatile French actor Isabelle Huppert's retrospective was a delight. The tribute to Japan's maestro Yasujiro Ozu cast a spell with its phenomenal craftsmanship and meditative compassion.
Director Danis Tanovic
However, a festival thrives not on retros but on contemporary world cinema.
It is time for the fledgeling Chennai festival to grow in stature by getting better packages next year, and more important, meeting international standards in projection.
Little Anand failed miserably in this regard while Anand and the Film Chamber theatres can do with upgrading of facilities.
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