Personal, public
RAKESH MEHAR
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The Asian Women's Film Festival presented a multitude of representations of the yearnings, desires, dreams and struggles of women
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PICTURE THIS The films were an interesting cross-section of varied subject matter
Despite all the advances that women have made into essentially male-centred spaces, one domain where they have not been able to make a significant breach is that of cinema. Although a number of women directors have made their appearance on the landscape, particularly in non-fiction filmmaking, much of the industry is still male-dominated. In this context, where women's voices are often lost in the chaos of the melee, efforts such as Reimaging the World Reimagining Women, organised by Vimochana and Bangalore Film Society and curated by The International Association of Women in Radio and Television, are a heartening effort.
The two-day festival conducted at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore last weekend, presented a multitude of representations of the yearnings, desires, dreams and struggles of women in India and around the world. Divided into three sections - Crafting the other aesthetic, Speaking pain, Scripting resistance and Framing multiple narratives - the festival was an interesting cross-section of varied subject matter rendered in both the feature-length and short film formats, all underpinned by a common theme of the personal being the political.
And it was precisely this idea that gave the collection of films its distinct tone of voice, with a majority of films dealing with their subject matter in a personal, intimate, empathetic manner. Thus, you had Beyond the Wheel, a documentary by Rajula Shah that examines the way women potters have subverted a system that does not allow women to use the potter's wheel. Earthy and down-to-earth, the film displays a wonderful ability to get under the skin of its subjects and relate perfectly to the context that they come from. Similarly, Yasmine Kabir's A Certain Liberation, throws up an interesting new perspective to the sufferings of women in situations of war, as it portrays the life of Gurudasa Mondol, who lost her mind when she saw her family killed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, and in her insanity experiences a sense of freedom that many of her fellow citizens are envious of. Indeed, many of the other films in the second segment such as Surname Viet Given Name Nam and Lanka: The Other Side of War and Peace differed from other conflict-related documentaries in the depth of the connection that they established with their subjects.
There were some films that were too personal in their narrative, resulting in stories that were fascinating for themselves, but hardly representative of the contexts they were set in. Thus, films such as Biji: A Documentary on My Grandmother and The House on Gulmohar Avenue by Samina Mishra, despite making for interesting viewing did not connect with all members of the audience. This line between the autobiographical and the ethnographic and the need to walk it properly was highlighted by the expert panellists discussing the various films, as some of them appreciated the daring involved in not providing a neat little intellectual packaging, while others pointed out that some films confused personal situations with larger cultural contexts.
What was also interesting about many of the films, as one panellist pointed out, was their willingness towards experimentation and lack of fear about vulnerability. Thus, the festival threw up some interesting forays into newer terrain, some successful, others not.
Thus, you had Will Think For Food, a freewheeling short film by Parvinder Kaur, born not so much out of an idea as out of a determination to create a film on hunger, food and taste for the Berlinale Talent Campus. Other fascinating features included Trans by Tejal Shah, an exploration of the transformation from one gender to the opposite and My Confession - the Picture Diary, the latter, a short video of a young woman creating her picture diary, aided by a ticker tape of free verse that succinctly explores issues such as security, personal space and the need for an individual identity independent of the man that she loves.
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