“The journey has been both pleasurable and arduous one. Pleasurable because a group of loyalists, who are not hard-core film-makers, keeps coming back. Arduous because it is hard to convince film-makers without awards, pitching forums and networking,” says film curator Neelima Mathur as she readies for the seventh edition of Lakeside Doc Festival to be held from 15th to 18th March at Naukuchiatal, Uttarakhand.
An annual gathering of documentary lovers from the different part of the globe, the festival is spread across the corners of the Lakeside Resort at the foothills of Himalayas and lake as a backdrop makes it an exciting space for post-screening gatherings. It has an informal screening space which often turns into a discussion spot for the audience usually staying at the venue throughout the festival, forming a communal union of a kind. “Undoubtedly, the location contributes to the uniqueness of the festival. The entire environment is conducive to introspection, rumination and quiet intimate discussions that have an abiding undercurrent of life-is-the-same and universality of cultures,” says Mathur.
As independent cinema’s popularity is gaining momentum, the effects are seen in the rise of a number of film festivals with allied events, but for Mathur, this festival will still maintain niche attention because of its communal screenings of alternative creative cinema. She does not want to add fiction films. “The documentary form has always received step-motherly treatment in India. It has not been given the status that a creative form which celebrates the democratic voice and leads to debate and action should be given. The festival celebrates the art of creative documentary film-making. Additionally, most documentary festivals in India are thematic or seem to revel in an element of the controversial or sensational – for effect. I would be happy to know about documentary film festivals in India that are a professional viewing platform of benchmark documentaries reflecting the latest international trends,” she avers.
With no proper funding from any major agencies, the festival keeps going by Neelima and her husband Pramod Mathur's sheer determination and help from documentary institutions from various countries. “Funding, of course, remains a pre-occupying and worrisome factor and I am very grateful to the philanthropists who support us as and when required. The final list of films is sent to Heads of Programmes of each of the partnering European festivals before we connect with the film-makers or distributors. This stage is hard because the demand for screening fees can be a deterrent. We try to raise it from embassies, most of who are supportive. In other cases, we somehow squeeze it into our budget after literally begging for a reduction. Most international film-makers are very co-operative and do reduce or waive the fee at our plea. That is the most gratifying part of the exercise – the international spirit of the documentary community,” she explains.
There are no themes and each film has its own special narrative ranging from human stories, subject studies to wildlife. This year, the list includes Amy Nicholson’s “Pickle”, which is about an elderly couple who have lived a lifetime caring for all kinds of animals and birds and Paweł Łoziński’s “You have no idea how much I love you”, which is filmed during a mother and daughter’s intimate sessions with a psychotherapist evoking traumas, blame, grief and finally reconciliation. While in “Down the deep dark web” hackers guide us to the bottom of dark Internet, Wojciech Kasperski's “Icon” takes us to one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Siberia and director Avani Rai follows her father, the famous Indian photographer, Raghu Rai in “Raghu Rai: An Unframed Portrait”. West Asian voices are heard in Hogir Hirori's “The Deminer” which is about a deminer's life of disarming thousands of explosive mines across Mosul, Iraq and Stefanie Brockhaus and Andreas Wolff's “The Poetess”, an inspiring story of a woman who dares to critique patriarchal society and religious extremism in Saudi Arabia .
Along with the international titles, a couple of Indian documentaries will be presented by the invited filmmakers in ‘Special Space’. Abhijnan Sarkar and Chandan Biswas's “The Running Hawker” follows the lives of running hawkers on the trains of South Bengal in India and Hemant Gaba's “An Engineered Dream” shows the life in Kota where entire system of coaching institutes seems like abetment to suicide. There is also a meet the director section where wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi will showcase “Cherub of the Mist” which unravels the story of a rare and mysterious ‘fire cat’– or Red Panda. “The government does not truly promote diversity or competition in the documentary sector that would generate innovative creativity in this genre in India. There is no structured, widespread support for this form – from the stage of idea development through production to screening and distribution. A lot needs to be done,” sums up Neelima.
