Cinema on farmers' issues

Bollywood is celebrating the centenary of the Indian film industry. So far the driving force of the film industry has been entrainment through commercial cinema. Seldom has the reel brought the reality of life to the screen. Through the International Farmer Film Festival, which is planned to be held in October, Ajit Rai and his team will use the silver screen to address the burning issues of farmers, who are expected to face a huge crisis within the next decade.

DW: What was the origin of the idea of organizing an international film festival on farmers?

Ajit Rai: It is going to be the first of its kind - an international film festival based on farmers. I drew inspiration from Ramon Magsaysay Award winner KV Subbanna's home village Heggodu, in the southern state of Karnataka. He has worked a lot to raise awareness of societal issues through the cinema. Once he screened Akira Kurosawa's famous film "Rashomon"for farmers - in a place where people neither understand Japanese nor English. After the screening he organized a debate and asked the farmers for their reactions and they gave some 20-25 different descriptions. It proves that the visual medium helps to evoke empathy irrespective of any language.

In many parts of India, farmers are experiencing many difficult issues. Many are committing suicide. What are your selection criteria for the films on farmers?

Our topic of choice is the life of farmers and their struggles because in the next ten years I believe agricultural sector across the world the will face a huge crisis.

Which Indian and international movies have you selected for this film festival?

There is a selection board and they are doing research to make the right choices. We are willing to include ones on the crisis taking place in the agricultural sectors of Taiwan and China. For the moment less importance is being given to documentaries. Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali" and Suhail Tatari's "Summer-2007" will be screened. From National Award winner epic film "Mother India," based on the exploitation of farmers by moneylenders to recently directed films on various other issues like the displacement of framers, will also be a part of the festival. Films like "Chomana Dudi" by BV Karanth in the Kannada language, one of the regional languages of southern India, "For women" and "A Climate for Crime" by Adoor Gopalakrishnan have also been selected.

You are talking about social reality in films. If we talk about the recently released "Gangs of Wasseypur" by Anurag Kashyap, it has a lot of violence and foul language in it. Is this our social reality or is it an exaggerated portrayal?

This is like a trend - a lot of people are experimenting with it. Violence is taken as a means of liberation. But it will not be liked in India; there is no doubt about that. After the Second World War, a new trend started in German and Italian cinema known as film noir. But in India, where the heart follows the concept of "truth is eternal and beautiful," this concept will not work.

Anurag Kashyap's fans think he has made his presence felt internationally. His films were screened at the Cannes film Festival. How do you evaluate his work against other directors worldwide?

Whatever we eat after staying hungry for five days, it tastes good to us. Similarly, whatever is happening in Bollywood, Anurag's movies seem like water in the desert. Anurag is a good director but he is not representative of India. The roots of Anurag Kashyap's thesis are linked to his guru Fatih Akin, a German film maker of Turkish origin who lives in Hamburg. The way Akin has treated the subject in movies like "Head-On" and "Soul Kitchen," it is brilliant and Anurag follows similar nuances. These two films give clear insight into Anurag's style of working. The movie "Black Friday" falls into this category. But it is made differently and is so far Anurag's best film.

Issues related to farmers do not find much mention in the Hindi press or the regional media. Cultural reporting is limited to film reviews and criticism. What is your view on this?

Unfortunately we don't have good film critics. The movement for good cinema is over in Hindi. Hindi society and the academic world have stopped considering cinema to be a serious medium. Cinema is still considered to be a bad influence. In countries like Italy, France and Germany, serious discussion about cinema takes place, whereas nothing is being done about Hindi cinema. I believe Bollywood is not really representative of Indian cinema. With such a lack of good film festivals and movements we cannot expect good movies.

Interview: Vishwa Deepak / tss
Editor: Sarah Berning