IFFK 2015 Official Daily Bulletin - Day 3

Julio Bressane Eduaordo:

A Defiant

Voice In Brazil

I

n a Face To Face interaction Pradip Biswas, a film scholar and author, Jury member of international film festivals, the mascot director from Brazil Mr. Julio Bressane Eduardo, jutted out that “in Brazil there is no traditional film industry”. It is sad but so very true.

Julio Bressane Eduardo in his interactive session told this critic as well as film aficionados, present at the Tagore Theatre, this is a fact that Brazilian cinema of other kind grew in the 60s spearheaded by Glauber Rocha, his friend filmmaker. In fact, we know, the whole of the world filmmakers learnt the art of making films with 16 mm camera, a phenomenon in whole of Latin America.

Said Julio Bressane: “It was a terrible time, a cruel time for filmmakers making films politically in Brazil.”

Said Julio Bressane: “I have a personal

tragedy as I was caught in a distraught fight with the Cinema Novo Movement of which I was a part. Some filmmakers with political agenda stood my way and spiked my free movement to do my own kind of cinema.” By then Glauber was banned from the country by the military regime. But I made a small group of like-minded filmmakers and started our own Brazilian Cinema Minimal.

This is the bottom-line for us then.

When asked how many films he could make till this day, he informed the present gathering: “Personally I have 50 films and they are of variegated in nature. No one film looked like the other. A creative director must be innovative and must not target a particular audience. In Brazil, cinema attendance is very poor and hardly two to three thousand people go to theatres to watch films. So we of the generation along with new generation

look for Television for taking our films to wider TV viewers.”

When I reminded of a great achievement of a Brazilian director Piereira dos Santos whose film Prisons Of Memory won the Special Jury Award at IFFI, New Delhi in 1985 chaired by the noted French actress Jean Moreau. Julio Bressane acknowledged this with pride and said “he is my friend and contemporary.”

Julio Bressane lamented the fact that Brazilian theatres are occupied by America films and this in the process stalls righteous exposure of genuine Brazilian films. Said he: “I am happy to tell you that my films seem to have inspired a band of young filmmakers to make films according to what my films have taught them. This is balanced picture of Brazilian cinema at present.”

Women Power Engendering The Gaze

Dr. Preeya Nair |

C

inema has ever been an art for male sake.

The cinematic signs reassert the secondary/ subaltern status of women in a society.

Female film, a counter cinema, is an alternative representation which evolves a separate genre of resistance that tries to subvert the dominant discourse of cinema there by helping her to acquire a subjectivity which holds cultural, political as well as historical significance.

It questions the objectified subjectivity of women in films and deconstructs the male gaze to evolve as a separate genre of contemporary films. It has given way to the creative representation of the protests of women around the globe to establish gender justice. International Film Festival of Kerala is witnessing in the 20th edition a special package titled Women Power, showcasing the experiences of womanhood of seven different nationalities. The package brings to the frame the unsophisticated, marginalised third world female that stands at odds with the dominant first world films.

Jayro Bustamante’s debut film Ixcanul narrates the story of the unexpected turn in the life of the 17 year old Kaqchikel Mayan girl named Maria and the beliefs and practices of workers of coffee plantations, bringing out the dreams of the marginalised native Red Indians of America to escape to the United States.

My Mother by the Italian director Nanni Moretti, etches out the conflicts in the subjectivity of women within and outside the family space through the depiction of

the life of a female director. Diep Hoang Nguyen's sly, sensual, politically probing debut film Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere is the story of Huyen failing in her attempts to abort the child due to several reasons. The woman tries to relieve her body from the hegemonic patriarchal gaze of the director, her lover and the viewers. Our Little Sister, a Japanese film

by Hirokazu Kore-eda, revolves around the unenthusiastic and monotonous life of three sisters. The Second Mother,

film by Alantė Kavaitė , is a saga of love that bravely depicts how love helps the introvert protagonist to actualize her dreams, thereby concreting the relation based on mutual understanding. Kill Me Please, the feature debut of Brazil’s Anita Rocha da Silveira, has a fifteen year old girl Bia who starts to do anything to make sure she's alive after an encounter with death when a wave of murderers plague her city.

Each of these films tries to portray

written and directed by Anna Muylaert, portrays how the appearance of the estranged daughter, Jessica, of a hardworking live-in housekeeper Val makes the unspoken class barriers that exist within the home disarrayed. The Summer of Sangailė, 2015 Lithuanian

the diversity of the lives of women. These films reassert the difficulties in actualizing through the medium of film the intensity of women’s thoughts and feelings and thus the fact that an adaptation of woman’s life to film texts could rewrite the history of films.

2

MEET THE DIRECTOR

Ambience In IFFK Boosts The Impact In The Enjoyment Of Movies “

T

here is a wide range of similarity in the cultural interaction between India and Peru due to their colonial experiences”, says Juan Daniel F. Molero, the young director of Videofilia from Peru. He was speaking in the Meet the Director programme held in Tagore Theatre compound in connection with IFFK 2015.

Bollywood movies are available even in the small streets of Peru thanks to piracy. Movies cross the oceans and shorten the distance between countries. He added that complete freedom in expressing ideas would be available to artists only when the film is produced with economic independence.

“I directed the movie to bring my own ideologies and perspective to the social scenario”, said the Iranian film director Hadi Mohaghegh. Emotions play a stronger role than words in stating ideas; that's why I use very few dialogues in my movies.

The ambience here in IFFK adds to the impact in the enjoyment of movies. “Film made for others will be made by other’s money,” he made a slight taunt.

Director of Iraq/Kurdish movie The Ash of Face, Mr. Shakhwan Idrees opined that one cannot change the society or politics with a movie, but they can represent the truth through them.

He also said that language of cinema changes according to the perspective of the director; but reiterated that the underlying

emotions are, moreover, the same. The Iraqi-Iranian War was just a background in the movie, in which the lay folk are the real victims as is usual, and that is what his film portrayed.

For a director his greatest satisfaction is when his movie reaches the audience, said the French film maker Laurent Lariviere. French National centre for cinematography helped youngsters to make films, he added. The session was really lively as the directors from varied cultures made this platform a converging ground of discourses. Balu Kiriyath, the Malayalam film director moderated the session.

section on screen to the participants of this festival. The film has slotted the life of a renowned Bengali theatre artist Late Kheya Chakraborty’s act, Prabash Mukhopadhyay | conflict and her struggles in debut film of Director Debesh. Debesh said, ‘It is a magical inspiration to me ndian cinema is not only spicy and feel- when I learnt from my long research on good-happy ending story line movies her artistic life and mysterious death.’

The journey of a woman as a theatre but has a glory of dealing with real life in different regions, marginal and different artist is always a multi-dimensional and cultures of the sub-continent. Diversity conflicting experience in the cultural in unity is the beauty of Indian culture. space. According to Debesh, ‘It is Indian Cinema in IFFK 2015 represents especially so when she is of maverick this with magnitude and aesthetic capability and of excellence beyond her excellence. Out of seven movies under time. Natoker Moto, aspiring to highlight this section, seven in varying forms and the struggles of a woman as an artist, contents are selected for screening. depicted the Kolkata’s social-cultural Debesh Chatterjee’s ‘Natoker Moto circuit spanning between 1950s-1970s (Like a Play)’ will be presented from the that fails to overcome even after two

LIKE A PLAY, IN CORE

A CINEMA

I

3

decades of globalization.’

The film proceeds through an investigation of sudden demise of Kheya and gets into precise details of the artist’s ceaseless conflict life that Kheya confronts at the paradigm of patriarchal domination.

Detailing on movie, Debesh said that the precise details of her life exposed the obstruction, understanding the strength of creative aspirations, and highlighting on the delightful journey of an artistic soul that unfortunately got cut short.

There are three spaces in this film: real to theatrical space, real to pure theatre and pure theatre to real space.

Debesh elaborates the film theatrically and said that we have these spaces in our daily life about which usually we are never attentive. “What I tried to articulate in this non-linear film extends over acting, dialogue, sound, lighting and colour-tone.” At the outset, the film starts with the metaphoric death which is followed by the process of narrative-investigative art and ends with metaphysical infiniteness beyond reality.

06th December 2015

E

xperiments galore are in store for the 20th edition of IFFK. One of the most appealing attractions to the lovers of Indian Classic films would be the package of milestones in the Indian film history under the category ‘Restored Classics’.

The technological advancement in the field of film development and restoration brought in innovations to revive the films that were on the verge of irretrievable deterioration. Restored classics by John Abraham, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, M S Sathyu and Jabbar Patel are screened in this category.

Garam Hava, directed in 1973 by M S Sathyu, is a film that deals with the controversial elements revolving around the human causalities resulting from the partition of India. The film, made with a shoe-string budget of Rs.10 lakh, was restored at 10 times that cost. The restoration process took over a year and a half as the negative was badly damaged. Over two lakh frames have been individually treated and the original negative restored. The sound quality has been digitally enhanced at a studio in Los Angeles. Jait Re Jait, a 1977 Marathi film, directed by Jabbar Patel depicts the real life of Thakkar tribe and its rituals and cultural traditions. This film was also restored by National Film Archive of India (NFAI). Revealing the truths of inner lives is the main factor that placed Mrinal Sen’s Oka Oori Katha (1977) among the

From the freezer of Time;

To the Warmth of

the Showcase

best of the Indian films. This, too, will be screened under the section.

Amma Ariyan (1986) was made by John Abraham which is about the journey that Purushan undertakes to inform the death of his friend to his mother. As the negative of the film made in black and white went missing from Chitranjali

Studio, National Film Archive of India in Pune had to work to digitalize it from the 35mm print of the movie in their possession. Mathilukal (1989), directed

by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, is also being screened in this IIFK as a part of Restored Classics.

Amala T Chacko |

meet THE Press

B

etter infrastructure, films and participants together constitute the film festival says Malti Sahai, former director of International Film Festival of India, while speaking in the inaugural ceremony of Meet the Press conducted in connection with the IFFK 20th edition. IFFK had made a tremendous advancement in the field of infrastructure she added while remarking about the newly air conditioned theatre in Nishagandhi Auditorium. Creative criticisms are inevitable in the growth of film festivals, opined B.Unnikrishnan, President FEFKA. T Rajeevnath, Chalachitra Academy Chairman, was also present.

4

Dubbing absolutely kills a film Andrew Bird

N

oted film editor Andrew Bird gave an enlightening session on the topic ‘Sound of Cinema’ at the ‘Master Class’- an interactive session conducted

by IFFK 2015. “Best part of my work is that I get to re-design a film according to the creative use of sound”, says the maestro. In the one hour long session, with the help of video clips from various films, he explained how sound made all the difference in films by supplementing the right content. He also highlighted the

need to provide real background sound to situations, which adds quality to the visual content. The veteran also spoke about sound being used as a powerful emotional tool by saying, “Emotional use of music is always more effective than its illustrative use”. While interacting with the audience he commented that dubbing “absolutely kills a film”, a method widely used in the Indian film industry.

Andrew Bird has always tried to play with sounds in an unconventional way.

The brilliant use of sound to elevate the visual quality is visible in the road movie Im Juli directed by Fatih Akin, with whom he frequently collaborates. The Britishborn film editor has worked on 14 films and various documentaries, mostly German. They include The Future, Soul Kitchen, The Edge of Heaven, Love and Other Crimes, Comrades in Dreams, Head On, Cowboy and Angels, Solina, Absolute Giganten and Kurz and Schmerzols.

Jayasree C |

Jugalbandi performed at Bharathbhavan auditorium.

Carnatic music & Kathakali music fusion by Ayamkudy Many and Kalamandalam K S Vinod.

5

06th December 2015

t‑Ih-e-a‑mb H‑mÀa-IÄs‑I‑mï‑p a‑m{‑X‑w AS-b‑m-f-s‑¸-S‑p-¯‑m-\‑m-h‑nà F h‑n³kâ‑v F¶ k‑wh‑n-[‑m-bIs‑\. aeb‑m-f‑n-b‑p-s‑S Z‑r-i‑y-t‑_‑m[-§Ä-¡‑v ]‑pX‑n-b a‑m\-§Ä \Â-I‑p-¶X‑n F h‑n³-kâ‑ns‑â k‑w-`‑m-h\-IÄ k-a‑m-\-X-I-f‑nÃ‑m-¯X‑mW‑v. FÃ‑m ]‑pX‑paIf‑ps‑Sb‑p‑w AZ‑v`‑pX§f‑ps‑Sb‑p‑w X‑pS¡‑w h‑n³kâ‑v a‑mÌd‑n \‑n¶‑mb‑nc‑p¶‑p. aeb‑mf k‑n\‑nab‑ns‑e BZ‑ys‑¯ \‑mg‑nI¡Ã‑v F¶‑v h‑nt‑ij‑n¸‑n¡s‑¸S‑p¶ "\‑oe¡‑pb‑ne‑n-‑'s‑â I‑ymad Ne‑n¸‑n¨X‑v At‑±la‑mW‑v. A-t‑¶‑mf‑w ]-c‑n-N-c‑n-¨‑n-c‑p-¶ ]-X‑n-h‑p c‑o-X‑nIf‑nÂ\‑n¶‑p‑w h-g‑n-a‑md‑n a-e-b‑m-f‑n I‑m-g‑v-N-b‑ps‑S ]‑p-X‑n-s‑b‑m-c‑p i‑oe-¯‑n-

t‑e¡‑v F-¯‑n-s‑¸-S‑p-I-b‑m-b‑n-c‑p-¶‑p.

O‑m-b‑m-{‑K‑m-l-I\‑n \‑n¶‑p‑w k‑w-h‑n-[‑mb-I-\‑n-t‑e-¡‑p-Å N‑p-h-S‑p-s‑h-¸‑n-e‑q-s‑S A-\-i‑z-c-§f‑m-b \‑n-ch-[‑n N‑n-{‑X-§f‑m-W‑v ae-b‑m-f-¯‑n-e‑p-ï‑m-bX‑v. X-a‑ng‑ne‑p‑w s‑X-e‑p-¦‑n-e‑p-a‑m-b‑n A-t‑\-I‑w N‑n-{‑X-§Ä-¡‑v O‑mb‑m-{‑K‑m-l-I-\‑m-b‑n {‑] hÀ¯‑n¨X‑n\‑p t‑ij‑w 1964 k‑wh‑n-[‑m-b-I-\‑m-b‑n a-e-b‑m-f-¯‑n-t‑e-¡‑v X‑n-c‑n-¨‑p h¶-X‑v `‑mÀ-K-h‑n-\‑ne-b‑w F-¶ F-¡‑m-e-s‑¯b‑p‑w ¢‑m-k‑n-¡‑p-a‑m-b‑mW‑v.

Hc‑p \à O‑mb‑m{‑K‑mlI\‑v F§s‑\ Hc‑p \à k‑wh‑n[‑mbI³ BI‑m³ Ig‑nb‑ps‑a¶‑v "`‑mÀ¤h‑o \‑neb‑w" F¶ k‑n\‑nab‑ne‑qs‑S At‑±-l‑w t‑_‑m-[‑ys‑¸-S‑p-¯‑n. a‑p-d-s‑¸®‑v‑, \Kct‑a -\µ‑n‑, Ai‑zt‑a[‑w‑, X‑pe‑m`‑mc‑w‑, Ak‑pch‑n-¯‑v-, {‑X‑nt‑hW‑n X‑p-S§‑n at‑\‑m-l-c-§f‑m-b

a‑p-¸-t‑X‑mf‑w N‑n-{‑X§Ä. A\h[‑n s‑Xe‑p¦‑v- k‑n\‑naIf‑ps‑Sb‑p‑w l‑nµ‑n k‑n\‑naIf‑ps‑Sb‑p‑w O‑mb‑m{‑K‑m-lI³.

Hc‑p k‑wh‑n[‑mb-I-s‑â H-X‑p-¡h‑p‑w a‑nIh‑p‑w F¶‑p‑w I‑m¯‑pk‑q£‑n¨ al‑mc-Y-\‑m-b k‑w-h‑n-[‑m-bI³.

1963 ]‑p-d-¯‑n-d§‑n-b s‑I‑m-¨‑p-s‑X½‑mS‑n-b‑m-W‑v h‑n³kâ‑v a‑m-k‑v-äÀ A-hk‑m-\-a‑m-b‑n k‑w-h‑n-[‑m-\‑w s‑Nb‑v-X a-eb‑m-f N‑n-{‑X‑w. s‑X-¶‑n-´‑y³ N-e-¨‑n{‑X-t‑e‑mI-¯‑v Z‑r-i‑y-§-f‑n-e‑q-s‑S h‑n-k‑vab-§Ä k‑r-ã‑n-¨‑, B-J‑y‑m-\-¯‑ne‑p‑w A-h-X-c-W-¯‑ne‑p‑w F-¡‑m-e¯‑p‑w G-s‑d a‑nI-h‑p ]‑p-eÀ¯‑n-b h‑n³-kâ‑v a‑m-k‑v-äÀ H‑mÀ-½‑n-¡-s‑¸-S‑p-t‑¼‑mÄ X‑nc‑n¨-d‑n-bs‑¸-S‑p¶X‑v ¢‑m-k‑n-¡‑p-IÄ ]‑nd¶‑, a-d-¡‑m-\‑m-h‑m-¯ Z‑r-i‑y-§-f‑p-s‑S H-c‑p k‑p-hÀ-® I‑m-e-s‑¯-b‑mW‑v.

Daily Bulletin Team |

Festival Director T Rajeevnath, Chaiman KSCA Editorial Board Chairman J Ajith Kumar Convenor Renji Kuriakose Coordinator Jayanthi Narendranath Chief Editor S Rajendran Nair, Secretary KSCA Executive Editor Sadeesh Chalippadam Associate Editor Mammed Montage Assistant Editor TM Hisham Sub Editor Haris Nenmeni Reporters Amala T Chacko, Jayasree C, Keerthana Mannayam Stills Ajay Saga, Shijin V K Design & Layout Shabeer M P Layout Assistant Saeed Fasal Printing Akshara Offset, Thiruvananthapuram Editorial Support Haris Kormath Printed & published by S Rajendran Nair, Secretary, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, Thiruvananthapuram on behalf of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Govt of Kerala.

6

Ur-Cinema and its Priests CS Venkiteswaran |

EVENTS

"it's not about a bank heist; it is a bank heist", says Sebastian Schipper, director of Victoria, a one shot, single take film lasting two hours and eighteen minutes (DoP Sturla Brandth Grøvlen). A similar precedent will be Aleksandr Sokurov’s Russian Ark (2002), which is considered the first unedited single-take full length film that takes a spectacular trip through Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum in one elaborately choreographed, flowing movement. What does this fascination for long, single takes mean today?

From the beginnings there is the montage vs mise en scene debate, where film thinkers like Andre Bazin went eloquent about the ontology of cinematic image, the truthfulness to space and time, etc. Since then, many

film ‘fundamentalists’ have adulated the tracking shots and long takes as a kind of ‘ur-cinema’, something unique and sublime. It began as a sort of confrontation between the advocates of montage, who believed in building cinematic narrative ‘brick by brick’ through shots or by bringing shots into conflict with one another, with those who considered it a sacrilege to manipulate the integrity of Reality; they wanted to ‘let the world unravel its truth by itself’.

Now this debate has taken another turn, with coming of the digital turn in cinema, where any kind of image can be created through ‘CGI’, and the resultant ‘deontologisation of the cinematic image’. Today digital cinema considers itself capable of an ‘immaculate realism’ that has no parallel in its history.

In a way, filmmakers like Sebastian

Schipper and Sokurov are trying to reassert the ontology of the cinematic image and to reaffirming, reclaiming the faith in it. That’s why Sokurov in his film Francofonia pleads with Tolstoy to wake up, while showing the black and white photograph of the aged author lying on his cot. One gets the same vibes listening to Schipper in one of his interviews: “I've come around more and more to maybe one of the most known entries to a diary ever, from Kafka. It said: "Went to the cinema. Cried." And I just thought about that the other day. Maybe we kind of underestimate that that's really what it's about, why we watch films, to come into contact with something very strong, sometimes dark and maybe sometimes scary, and maybe a movie enables you to face some stuff, not consciously.” venkitycs@gmail.com

Delegate's Column

T O D AY PRESS MEET

12PM | Tagore Theatre

OPEN FORUM

3 PM | Tagore Theatre

MEET THE DIRECTOR

"I have been participating in the festival for the past 19 years.

Comparing to the other festivals women delegates who come here wear their own identity. IFFK remains the most popular among the other festival which i have participated."

- Jothi Narayanan, Govt Employee

3 PM | Tagore Theatre

PANEL DISCUSSION

4pm| Executive Launch, Mascot Hotel Film Festival in India - Challenge and Opportunities

ARAVINDAN MEMORIAL LECTURE - on "Global Audience" 5pm| Tagore Theatre MS Claire Dobbin

MASTER CLASS on Screen play

3pm-4pm | Executive Launch, Mascot Hotel Mr. Martin Sherman

7

"Unlike the Cannes Film festival I am getting a chance to see more than 4 films a day. This festival gave me the opportunity to watch a vaibrant variety of film."

- Hans Ulrich Kohli,Businessman

Kathakali

@ Tagore Theatre premises

Film Screening @ Manaveeyam Veedhi

Time: 7.00pm to 8.00 pm

Kerala kalamandalam Time: 6.30 pm

Jermal

Indonesia / 2009 Colour / 110min

06th December 2015

THE CHARACTERS IN THIS MOVIE ARE NOT FICTITIOUS! W

hy is it that the words "based on true story" add a whole new level of intrigue to a film? The cinema is a great place to unravel and take a break from real life, especially when we know what is shown to us is fiction scenarios and dreamt up characters. But sometimes telling the truth is more compelling and hard hitting than pure fiction.

When such fascinating life stories meet talented directors and talents, we get some beautifully tailored movies which are hard to ignore. 20th International Film Festival of Kerala has scheduled a special slot “Based on True Story” to acknowledge such masterpieces.

The first-ever film shot entirely in Vanuatu, director Martin Butler tells an emotionally engaging story of forbidden love through Tanna. The terrific cast and compelling message of The Truth is enough to capture viewer’s attention for James Vanderbilt's directorial debut.

Offering a unique look at modern fears and our fascination with film, Crystal Moselle’s The Wolf Pack is a fascinating and ultimately haunting urban fable. Led by an outstanding performance from Cliff

Partners

Curtis, James Napier Robertson’s The Dark Horse tackles complex themes with a richly layered, unpredictable, and deeply affecting story. Jeppe Ronde's potent, pain-ridden drama Bridgend examines the real-life spate of teen suicides in the eponymous Welsh county. The Polish film

Carte Blanche, by Jacek Lusinski, is a feelgood movie about a high school history teacher and his captivating life. The famous Russian playwright and master of the short story Anton Chekhov is brought to an expressive life in Rene Feret's biopic Anton Chekhov — 1890.

Jayasree C | Ajay Saga

Technical Partners

8