At the venue the air seemed thick. I was keenly observing the people managing the event. They had no clue what a film festival is. To the young guns- with rolled sleeves and long sleeved Tee’s under the festival half sleeve Tee’s- it was an extension of their college festival. They were running in all directions without any purpose and seemed to play the ‘discipline-in-charges’ to a lame result. All uncalled for. Another interesting development was the increase in the number of burly men in body hugging black Tee’s. The young volunteers including some managerial staff were later seen ordering for more of these men- in their exact words- “Get the Bouncers!”, “Pachaas bouncers ko bhejo!” Phew…this was nothing like a film festival!
I had reached at 2:30 pm and thus planned to catch three films there on. The first one was “Bi, Dung So!” meaning “Don’t be afraid, Bi!” It was a film from Vietnam-France- Germany, this combination was the first thing that held my attention. Second was the synopsis, Directed by Phan Fnag Di it claimed to be a film that that was about the innocence of the six year old 'Bi' who played in an ice factory. It talked about various conflicts like Bi’s aunt having an affair with a teenager, Bi’s father taking up to alcohol and later giving away all the 'water' in the house to the masseuse to whom he is infatuated and this at a time when the heat is soaring extremely. There seemed to be a metaphor in- ‘Ice’ which was being used by Bi’s ailing grandfather to soothe his burning stomach while Bi's aunt used it to satiate her sexual desires!
Now all this seemed overwhelming and presented a possibility of a tight and eventful screenplay. Alas, it was not to be. I don’t judge world cinema by its pace as its far slower than the one I am used to but apart from being excruciatingly slow, this film I felt was dealing with far too much than it could do justice to. The screenplay seemed distorted and very little could be justified. In short, “not recommended”.
The pics below will give you a gist of the chaos at the festival that was to hit me in my face as I headed to watch my second film of the day...
The reason for this chaos I’ll state in my next post which I’ll write immediately after this for there is much to say on that front. However, it was handled by the PVR staff and organizers in an extremely shabby and shameful manner. PVR in the last two days has been an acronym for Panic Vs Rationality wherein Panic has clearly won.
To add to the misery created by the immaturity of the organizers I find it pitiful to see the young volunteers who are eager for sure but completely ignorant about what a film festival is which results in mayhem. As a result I could not watch the film and by the time could make my way out of the lobby all other films were half way through their journey.
Thus the last film of the day was my second film namely “Retratos En Un Mar De Mentiras” meaning “Portraits in the Sea of Lies”, Directed by Carlos Gaviria, I loved this film from Columbia. It told a story of a submissive girl, Marina, who was yet to recover from having lost her family when she was child during a military siege. The film did justice to not only the struggles of its characters but also established the atmosphere of strife and fear that prevails in Columbia which is for the longest time embroiled in a social and political battle leading to maximum casualties. The journey was very simply and beautifully captured making you feel that you were traveling across the tense country with the characters. Highly recommended for sure.
Such was Day 2… and now on to Day 3 but before that a report on the chaos and mayhem at the festival that can be avoided but from the look of things, seems to be becoming pattern for this year’s MAMI.
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