IFFI 2013 : celebrating the human spirit of creativity

Manish Desai

                                                                                                                                       

“One of the world’s oldest and biggest film industries has reposed faith in the world’s newest and smallest film industry in East Timor. Since its independence in 1999, we have not just been fighting for the rights of women, the rights of children and the right to rule ourselves, but also our right to tell our stories".  These were the words of Bety Reis, co-director of the Portuguese film ‘Beatriz’s War’, which won the Golden Peacock Award for the Best Film at the just conclude International Film Festival of India, IFFI 2014. The award underlined IFFI’s role as the promoter of creative brilliance from across the world, no matter whether it comes from the big or the small. 

The 11 day extravaganza of films, held on the banks of River Mandovi at Panaji, Goa featured 325 films from 76 countries, which included 15 Oscar nominees. Delegates, who had landed from across India, feasted on some truly mind boggling films, interacted with leading directors and film makers of the world during master classes and ‘Chai-n-Chat’ programmes and enjoyed the cultural programmes depicting Goa from November 20 – 30, 2013. 

The curtain lifts up

IFFI 2014, began on a high note with acclaimed Kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj presenting a mind-blowing performance at a specially erected air-conditioned hangar near Panaji’s Kala Academy. The intoxicating classical performances on numbers like “Mohe Panghat per Nandalal Chad Gayo Re’,  ‘Thade Rahiyo..’  and ‘Main Radha Teri Tum Mera Shyam’ and the jugalbandi featuring Birju Maharaj and Sitar maestro Ustad Nishat Khan enthralled the audience including the galaxy of stars comprising  Hollywood actor Susan Sarandon, Iranian film maker Majid Majidi, Kamal Hasan, Rekha, Rani Mukherjee, Jackie Shroff, Prem Chopra, Divya Dutta, Madhavan, Huma Qureshi and Alia Bhatt and Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar, among others. 

Waheeda Rehman, the ‘quintessential beauty of Bollywood’ received the newly introduced Centenary Award comprising Rs 10 lakh (1 million) in cash and a citation. One of the best known representative of the ‘New Wave Czech Cinema’ Jiri Menzel was honoured with the ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ . Maker of the much awarded “I Served the King of England”, Menzel was at his witty best during his interaction with media. When asked about what his films yearn to portray, he said “I make films for my neighbours. My films are celebrations of life”. His latest film ‘Don Juans’ was the opening film of IFFI 2013. “This ode to the gentle seducers of the world could have been a stuff of tragedy in different hands than Menzel’s. Here it is a deadpan comedy” said a film critic after watching the movie. 

Indian Panorama

Veteran film actor and director Manoj Kumar inaugurated the Indian Panorama section that showcased 26 feature films and 16 non-feature films. It opened with the screening of non-feature film ‘Rangabhoomi’ (Hindi) directed by Kamal Swaroop, which was followed by feature film ‘Kanyaka Talkies’ (Malayalam) by K R Manoj. The feature film jury headed by B Lenin selected 25 films from 210 eligible entries. Hindi film ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ , directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, which won the Best Feature Films award at the 60th National Film Awards was a direct entry. In the feature film category, there were six Malayalam entries, five each Bengali and Hindi, 3 Marathi and 2 English entries. One film each had been selected from Tamil, Kannada, Oriya, Konkani and Mising. 

Story of Goa

Award winning director Laxmikant Shetgaonkar’s ‘Baga Beach’ reflected the struggles of people living in the coastal belt of Goa. The film shows how the tourists, locals and migrants are interdependent economically, emotionally and socially and how they perceive this complex unequal relationships. “Goa’s beaches represent the exotic sea shore, but they also throw up harsh realities that affect the locals” said Shetgaonkar. 

Soul of Asia

Adding another dimension of mysticism to the festival was the Soul of Asia section which was inaugurated by Majid Majidi.  ‘The Patience Stone (Afghanistan), ‘Faith Connections’ (India), ‘Apparition’ (the Philippines), ‘The Story of the Weeping Camel’ (Mangolia) and ‘Departures’ (Japan) were some of the major films in this section. A parallel painting and photography exhibition was also held at the INOX complex featuring works of photographer Dinesh Khanna and painters Aparna Kaur, Pratiksha Apurv and Seema Kohli. 

North East Focus

IFFI 2013 provided a major platform for showcasing films from the North East. The North East Package, comprising 19 feature films was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mukul Sangma, soon after the Naga folk / rock band Purple Fusion bowled over the audience with mesmerizing performance. "The focus on Northeast cinema is the first ever effort at putting the spotlight on the cinema of the region. Most of the movies made in the region reflect its social concern and form part of cultural documentation ” said Utpal Borpujari, who curated the North-East package. ‘Matamgi Manipur’ (Manipuri), ‘Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Aru Joymoti’ (Assamese) and ‘Hagramayao Jinahari’ (Bodo). What enhanced the North-East experience at IFFI were the cultural programmes every evening as well as kiosks selling crafts and products from the region. 

World Cinema

Japan was the ‘Country in Focus’ showcasing a combination of animation and feature films. The animation films included ‘The Garden of Words’ by Makoto Shinkai, ‘Wolf Children’ by Mamoru Hosoda and ‘Library War: The Wings of Revolution’ by Takayuki Hamana. The feature films included ‘The Devil’s Path’ by Kazuya Shiraishi, ‘Oshin’ by Shin Togashi and ‘Real’ by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Enjoying their trip to Goa, the Japanese director during their media interactions revealed that Amitabh Bachhan and ‘3 Idiots’ are very popular in Japan. 

Cinema in Greece came up for discussion during a ‘Chai-N-Chat’ interaction. "We are making movies in spite of adversity. We don't have a film industry since the 70s. The financial crisis has made it worse, but even under such circumstances, we are producing movies," said Maria Douza, director of ‘The Tree and The Swing.’ Other films shown under the 'Greek Vignettes' section were ‘J.A.C.E. (Just Another Confused Elephant)’, ‘Marjoram’, ‘September’, ‘The Daughter’ and ‘Wild Duck.’

‘Man’s Desire for the Fifth Wife’ was  a sole entry from Afghanistan. The film that features Tajikistan actress Takhmina Rajabova explores many contours of the traditional society in Afghanistan and highlights the sufferings of women in that country. The Afghan delegation at IFFI sought India’s held to train Afghani talent in film making. A similar plea was made by the South American directors from Uruguay and Paraguay, who were at IFFI with their feature films in the ‘Cinema of the World’ section.

The film delegation from Thailand enjoyed the sun-n-sand of Goa as well as the movie fare at the festival. Thai actor Vithaya Pansringarm said Thailand offers great opportunity for production of Indian movies. He said his country is a already a major destination for Hollywood and international movies and Indian producers should also come forward in large numbers to shoot their movies in exotic locales. He said, it is quite common to find Indian film DVDs with Thai subtitles in Bangkok and other Thai cities. 

Michelle Yeoh’s Pad Yatra 

Malaysian Chinese actor and former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh was the chief guest for the IFFI closing ceremony.  Her environmental documentary ‘Pad Yatra : A Green Odyssey’ is about the harrowing adventure of 700 people, trekking across the Himalayas with a call to save the planet’s ‘Third Pole’ a glacial region, now devastated by chaotic climate change associated with global warming.  Led by Buddhist spiritual leader, Gyalwang Drukpa, the journey is punctuated by spiritual insights thereby renewing ancient wisdom in a modern context. The story of Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey is told through the perils and adventures the trekkers face as they struggle through the most treacherous terrain on the planet. 

In terms of films, IFFI had so much to offer, but the day to day running of the festival was not without a blemish. There were issues with ticketing system, long queues for entry into auditorium, lack of eatable stalls offering food at reasonable prices, difficulty in obtaining kits and brochures for delegates and media persons alike. The organizers did their best to respond to the issues, but many a times, their best was not just enough. 

….and the Award goes to.

Finally, on November 30, curtains came down on the 44th International Film Festival of India, IFFI on an emotional note with the East Timor’s first ever feature film “Beatriz’s War” winning the prestigious Golden Peacock Award for the Best Film.

 

The best director award was given to Kaushik Ganguly for his film Apur Panchali, his tribute to stalwart Satyajit Ray. He received Rs 15 lakhs (1.5 million), a certificate and a Silver Peacock. 'Thou Guils't The Even', a Turkish film, won the special jury award of a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs (1.5 million), and silver peacock. Best Actor (Male) award went to Alon Moni Aboutboul for his performance in Israeli movie ‘A Place in Heaven’. Best Actor (Female) award was presented to Boczarska Magdalena for her excellent performance in Polish film ‘In Hiding’. Both these awards carried a Silver Peacock, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh (1 million).  The special centenary award of IFFI,  instituted in the 101st  year of Indian cinema, was handed to director Kamaleshwar Mukherjee of Bengali film 'Meghe Dhaka Tara'. The International Jury comprised Goran Paskaljevic (Jury Chairman), Victor Banerjee, Claire Denis, Prasanna Vithange, Atiq Rahimi.  

In his closing remarks Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari said that 44th IFFI was a celebration of freedom of the human spirit, liberated from the mores of conventionalism. And Justin Chadwick’s film ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ which chronicles Nelson Mandela’s life from his childhood in a rural village to his emergence as the first democratically elected President of South Africa,  was aptly chosen as the closing film of the festival. What better way than this to end the festival of films celebrating human spirit and creativity. 

PIB Mumbai Feature / with inputs from Alkesh Tyagi, Alok Deshwal, Nagendra Kishore & Amit Kumar. Manish Desai is Director (Media Communication), PIB Mumbai.