We’re talking about 100 years of remarkable filmmaking. When a moment like that arrives, you are tempted to evaluate what has changed from then to now.
The short answer… a lot. The art form has shifted technically, artistically, contextually and geopolitically making it an entirely new experience, but with an old heart.
At this juncture, when cinema has become so much more than entertainment, Dinesh B Singh brings this introspection through handpicked cinematic curation to extol its contribution.
Navrasa Duende, an arts-and-entertainment venture that assimilates world cultures on one platform, presents this filmscape through its Navrasa Duende World Movie Festival.
In this fourth edition, movies considered as milestones across six significant movements and events, have been put together. It starts from the silent films of the 1920s, the poetic realism of the 30s, the Italian neo-realism as well as the French new wave of the 50s and the 60s.
Including contemporary classics and independent films.
“The single intention is to bring out the potential of learning. You expose yourself to a new horizon through films. There is an understanding of cultures and all this brings the people of the world together. In short, cohesion through entertainment,” says Singh.
There’s Francis Ford Coppola’s English film Apocalypse Now, Yasujiro Ozu’s Japanese film Tokyo Story, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Marriage of Maria Braun, Satyajit Ray’s Charulata and several others.
Each of these films are set in a context that explains its struggles and survivals. But the limitation of language continues to act as a deterrent. Subtitles are helpful but they take away from the easy pleasure of movie watching.
“Give it time. Watch a few movies to get comfortable. It’s a slow process, I agree, but once you form a new habit, it will be easy to sit through the entire film without the urge to leave,” he says.
The same is true of regional Indian cinema. A lot of good films are outside the ambit of viewership because of incoherence.
“But here, the issue of promotion is huge. Marketing a regional film pan India requires a lot of money. It’s not commercially viable for many distributors to do so. Also, because regional cinema does very well within its state, stakeholders are satisfied with the business.”
To address the issue of comprehension, the film festival has instituted a 15-minute introductory panel to establish the foundation of each piece of work. It’s about understanding them through an oblique angle, says Singh, who feels this will trigger an interest in watching movies, especially in theatres, a thing that has taken a hit because of online platforms.
“Convenience has become a priority and rightly so, but your small screen can never match up to the grandness of the large one. Besides, I feel like fads, different entertainment formats come and go. What remains are classics. And in movie watching, the theatre experience is one such,” he says.
Movie mania in the city:
| DAY 1: November 16 10.30 am - Apocalypse Now (English) 2.45 pm – Tokyo Story (Japanese) 6.00 pm – The Marriage of Maria Braun (German) |
| DAY 2: November 17 10.30 am – Charulata (Bangla) 2.00 pm – The Passion of Joan of Arc (Silent) 5.30 pm – Pulp Fiction (English) |
| When: November 16,17 Where: Siri Fort Auditorium, Audi 2, Siri Institutional Area, Asian Games Village Complex, New Delhi |