Stand up, speak, lest we become cowards: Prakash Raj

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Actor Prakash Raj, who faced threats from right-wingers for condemning the assassins of Gauri Lankesh, on Friday urged the film fraternity to stand up and speak, “for if we become cowards, we will make society cowardly”. Raj was addressing the audience at the opening of 22nd IFFK. The audience erupted into thunderous claps, off and on, as he made an impassioned ex tempore speech, almost like professing his credo. “Yes we are sad today with Ockhi the cyclone and thank you for being so very sensitive as the fraternity should do, to cut down on the celebration. But the spirit should continue and I understand that people across the country and world have come in. I salute you for letting the spirit continue.

“When I come to Kerala I don’t come with a script to talk because there is no censor here. I love you because this is one state where I can breathe without fear. Whatever I am going to talk, I believe with integrity that this is what I should talk. “Ladies and gentlemen, yes we are in difficult times. Let’s not mince words when we see around the recent agenda, recent narrative which is being forced on us. It is not just the creative voices, it is not the journalist voice. Any form of dissent is trying to be silenced. And I have started talking because I want to tell them that when you silence the voice, a louder voice will be born. I talk, I raise my voice not because I belong to a political party. I raise (my voice) as an artist because I feel responsible to speak. Because we, the film fraternity, the artists of society, are not what they are because of their talent.  They are what they are because of the love from society. And it is very, very important for such artists, who owe their lives and positions, their names, their fame and their comfort to the society to pay back.

“Because if we artists, the creative people become cowards, we should realize we will be responsible for making the society cowardly. It is important to be the voice for those who cannot raise their voice. They are threatening me, I laugh at them. They are trying to silence me. I have started singing. What more you will take away from me? “Come out with your agenda. They have a problem with a film called, S Durga. But the same people have no problem with Durga wine and bar.

They have no problem if a street named Durga is dirty. Ladies and gentlemen, ‘Hindutva’ is a way of life but when people are forcing a narrative that Hindutva and nationalism are same, do you want us to believe you know what Hindutva is or are you trying to put something else in the disguise of Hindutva. When we as Malayalis or Tamilians want to celebrate our language, you want Hindi I have a personal request for youngsters of Kerala. What I like about you is that you fight among yourselves... don’t allow others to come and instigate a fight. Have differences, have protests, fight among your selves, it is a family matter. Don’t allow the enemy, who comes in to start a fight. Those people who believe in punarjanma, they are the reincarnation of Hitler. I on this dais want to be responsible for what I have said”.

Ockhi victims remembered

Nishagandhi was silent with the warm glow of candles, as everyone stood in solidarity for the victims of Ockhi tragedy. Festival authorities had decided to cut down on festivities and cultural programmes, in solidarity with the bereaved. The first candle was lit by actor Rajisha Vijayan.

People at the opening ceremony of the 22nd IFFK on Friday hold candles in solidarity with the victims of Ockhi tragedy.

Veteran Bengali actor Madhabi Mukherjee was honoured at the ceremony. In her address, she spoke highly of Kerala’s film society movement and IFFK. “In age it is just one year younger to Calcutta international festival. But still this festival has marked its permanent place as the best festival in India,” she said. She attributed the origin of the festival to the success of the film society movement, and added that the movement continues to be strong in Kerala.

From small to big, to the biggest

It still needs a bit of getting used to, that when December comes, you pack your jute bag and maroon tag bearing the words IFFK 2017, to go to Tagore Theatre. And not the Kairali Theatre complex like you have been for years if you have always been a patron of this yearly festival of movies. Adjectives of all sorts have been used to describe the IFFK in the past 21 years. For the first time this year, without a formal inaugural ceremony, to remember victims of the terrible Ockhi that took away many lives and left families torn apart. Perhaps, catching on that spirit, the usually loud crowd at the festival, kept it quiet, patiently following queues, obeying, answering. Let’s hope it is not a reflection of that forced silence that actor Prakash Raj spoke of in his speech at Nishagandhi Audit-orium, where he was honoured along with veteran actress Madhabi Mukherjee. Predictions can go wrong but if the atmosphere of solemnity on Day 1 of the fest is anything to go by, it might be a contradiction of all we have seen in the years the IFFK developed quietly, into what it is now.

1988 is the year movie lovers would like to trace back to when they narrate the journey. That’s the year the International Film Festival of India was held in Thiruvananthapuram, and the year that brought on a love for serious cinema, that would never go away from the land that produced Adoor and Aravindan and John Abraham, among many others. A film festival for Kerala just had to happen. It did in 1996 in Kozhikode – International Film Festival of Kerala, with 100 films celebrating 100 years of cinema. Two years later, Chalachitra Academy was formed, a Kerala government initiative to promote cinema, that would organize the IFFK every year. “Top-down, unlike other fests,” is what film critic C S Venkiteswaran calls it. “That, and the clarity of content with focus on films from the third world countries, and the wide and democratic participation, is what IFFK is about,” he says.

It has been clear from the beginning – when they added a competition category to the festival, the films would be from Latin America, Asia and Africa. And it brought along a wide range of audience – students, teachers, the working class and the curious lot.  Contradictory to the audience that turned up or rather didn’t when movies of the art house kind were screened at regular theatres, the IFFK saw more registrations every year, the seats never becoming enough for the numbers who flock in from all parts of the country. This year, in an attempt for discipline and order, they cut the seats to 10,000. And announced that no one can sit on the floors once the seats were over. That may have disappointed the many, who more than anything else, enjoy that feeling of unexpected camaraderie that came among absolute strangers if only for a week. But then fire and safety demands it.

So far, it’s been followed. But then one may expect one of those habitual protests that come every year to the fest, sometimes for the good, some other times, losing focus. A version of a protest if you want to call that came when miffed filmmaker, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan and his most discussed film S Durga, took off from the fest, disappointed by the category the film was put into, and went along to run a parallel fest called Kazcha Indie Film Fest – KIFF, an anagram for IFFK. It too, however, has started quietly, filmmaker Anand Gandhi inaugurating it the same day. IFFK too moved along with its quiet candlelit opening for Ockhi victims. Ironically the opening film is titled The Insult. The following days will see new categories.

“Identity and Space is a very interesting package as far as contemporary politics is concerned - from Trump to Brexit,” says Venkiteswaran, who is also on the selection committee. Country of focus is Brazil. Japanese animation comes as a package. Homage goes to IV Sasi, KR Mohanan, Jayalalithaa, Om Puri and others who left us this year. “And Alexander Sokurov (Russian filmmaker who will be given lifetime achievement award) is a most important filmmaker in our time. His being here is itself recognition for the IFFK.” It wasn’t easy to convince him, Bina Paul, academy vice-chairman said. People were easily convinced by the IFFK, we have slowly and quietly made a name for ourselves. And this year, we are celebrating movies from our land, celebrating 90 years of Malayalam cinema.

Activists against Transgender bill

Transgender activists have decided to use the 22nd IFFK as a forum to air their dissent on ‘The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016’ which is about to be presented in the winter session of Lok Sabha. They will assemble at Tagore Theatre, the main IFFK venue, on Sunday, and hold a post card campaign.  “The post cards which register protest against the bill will be sent to Prime Minister as well as Minister of Social Justice and Empowe-rment. If we get a lot of support against the bill, we will be able to ensure that it is not passed. We intend to meet the members of parliament by the mid of this month, and garner their support,” says Sheethal Shyam, a transgender activist.

Transgender activists find many points in the bill objectionable, starting with the definition of a transgender. For it says, a transgender person is one who is “partly female or male; or a combination of female and male; or neither female nor male”.  A parliamentary standing committee which was formed to study the bill, had noted in its report that the Bill defines transgender persons “based on underlying assumption of biological determinism”.

The report had also recommended that the Bill must recognise the civil rights of transgender persons like marriage, divorce and adoption. It had asked that transgenders be exempted from IPC 377, which criminalises them.  While gender minorities found the report to be very progressive, the union ministry of Social Justice and Empowerm-ent decided to scrap the report. It is for this reason that the community is protesting against the bill.