In our continuing coverage of the ongoing Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival with Star (12-18 October), we talk to eight directors from the India Story category.
Vaishali Sharma, Director, Ask the Sexpert
English
What is your film about?
[It’s] about a 90-year-old sex advice columnist who gains tremendous popularity for his daily [newspaper] column, against the backdrop of a ban on sex education in schools in several [Indian] states.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
A look into the life of Dr. Mahinder Watsa, open discussions around sex and sexuality.
Which films are you going to watch at MAMI?
All the other films in the India Story section. I also want to see Chavela , it is directed by my friend Daresha Kyi.
What are your MAMI recommendations?
My filmmaker friend Jon Oshlefski's film Quest . We workshopped our films together at an editing feedback retreat last year. Also another filmmaker colleague Lana Wilson's film The Departure , which I was able to catch at the Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival this year.
Prateek Vats, Director, A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
Bengali
What is your film about?
It’s the story of the grand old man of bodybuilding, Manohar Aich, who won the title of Mr Universe in 1952. I met him on his 101st birthday and that became the pivot to make a documentary about him. He died in June 2016.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
An intimate portrait of Aich shot during his final years. The title is taken from a story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez about an old man with wings rumoured to be an angel.
Which films are you going to watch at MAMI?
Up Down And Sideways , Ajji , Ashwatthama , Returning To The First Beat , Pushkar Puran .
What are your MAMI recommendations?
Turup , Loveless , Zoo , 24 Frames .
Nishil Sheth,DirectorBhasmasur
Hindi
What is your film about?
A man in a village in Rajasthan wants to sell his donkey to settle some debts. But his son does not want to let go of the donkey named Bhasmasur. The film is about their interpersonal relationships.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
Unlike other films shot in Rajasthan, where the focus is on tourist-friendly images, the focus here is more on the story and not the landscape.
Which films are you going to watch?
Village Rockstars , Zoo , Mother! , The Square , Chumbak .
What are your MAMI recommendations?
Village Rockstars – it’s a one-woman show by director Rima Das!
Amshan Kumar, Director, Cry Humanity (Manusangada)
Tamil
What is your film about?
[It’s] the story of lower caste people who have been put to untold sufferings for a very long time. Economic growth and education has improved their awareness about their rights. They have begun to stand up and oppose. The Dalits have however shown remarkable restraint in their agitations. The film shows one such [recent] agitation [from] Tamil Nadu. The Dalits in the film want a decent burial to their dead and nothing more. It’s this fundamental right they are fighting for.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
I want the [audience] to look at Cry Humanity not as one more film about the Dalit issue. Discriminating people in the name of caste is a major human rights violation. Casteism in cinema is often looked through the love relationship between the upper caste and lower caste people. But there are many angles to it and they are more serious.
Which films are you going to watch?
When I attend film festivals in India I devote more time to see Indian films. Foreign films reach us through theatres, TV channels and DVDs. So my first pick will be regional cinema. I [also] want to see Andrei Tarkovsky’s digitally restored Stalker .
What are your MAMI recommendations?
I suggest [going in] for a judicious mixture of Indian films and foreign films. Also pay attention to films shown in the retrospective section.
Girish Mohite, Director Pale Blue Dot (Sarvanaam)
Marathi
What is your film about?
It is about the existence of human life and our fear of death – the eternal question that haunts us all our life.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
I have filmed the entire feature film in natural light, without resorting to artificial sets. I have treated the subject as seen through the eyes of the central character – a man who is struggling with these thoughts about life and death when a person close to him is on the verge of dying.
Which films are you going to watch?
Ajji .
What are your MAMI recommendations?
Ajji for sure.
Kamal Swaroop, Director,Pushkar Puran
Hindi
What is your film about?
There’s a legend that the gods descend to the city of Pushkar during the annual Pushkar mela – that forms the backdrop of my film.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
I have borrowed a few quotes from writer Roberto Calasso’s book Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India and mixed it with the mythical images of the Brahma with five heads in the midst of the mela spectacle.
Which films are you going to watch?
I will just attend the festival and walk-in into anything that looks appealing.
What are your MAMI recommendations?
[Audiences] should do the same.
Jiju Antony, Director The Forsaken (Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani?)
Marathi
What is your film about?
It’s about how criminals are also innocent people before they turn to a life of violence and corruption.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
The story is narrated in a retrogressive manner so that viewers may find it interesting to see how [a life of crime] starts. ‘Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani’ is a quote from the Bible. When Jesus was put on the cross, he said those words, which mean, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Which films are you going to watch at MAMI?
Sexy Durga . The director of the film, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan is a friend, and he also edited my film.
What are your MAMI recommendations?
Sexy Durga .
Prasanth Vijay, Director The Summer Of Miracles (Athisayangalude Venal)
Malayalam
What is your film about?
It’s about a [lonely] nine-year-old child who discovers some miracles on how to cope with his life and connect with people around him during a summer vacation.
What should the MAMI crowd expect to see?
It’s a film about a child but it is not a children’s film as it will tug at the heart of every adult who has been a child once.
Which films are you going to watch at MAMI?
Village Rockstars , Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani?
What are your MAMI recommendations?
Mother! , Last Flag Flying .
