Day1   Day2   Day3   Day4

Day 1: 25 September 2008

- Clara Presler, America India Foundation

Last night as the sun went down, the fourth annual “Development Film Festival” commenced. Appropriately, it was held at the Gandhi Memorial Museum, a placement that enhanced the aura of history and cultural pride that the films already projected.

The evening began with a look back to a film “Kodangi” from last year’s film festival that focused on the theme of water. When a sizeable crowd had assembled of 300 people, the evening began in earnest with music, traditional lighting ceremony, and dancing. A panel of leaders involved in various aspects of the development sector spoke.

The Chief Guest journalist turned director, Mr. Rajashekar, praised short films for their ability to send an educational message to people, which a commercial film can not do. He said, “Commercial films should allocate some segment of an educational message in the films, television programmes and magazines”. He pointed out that there are very few producers emerging who encourage such works.

As this was the opening to a festival on culture and heritage, it was appropriate that the speeches were conducted in Tamil. Unfortunately, this limited my own comprehension as an American and non-Tamil speaker. Nevertheless, the excitement and engagement of both speakers and audience was palpable.

This engagement was soon directed towards the opening film, “Jallikattu”. The film profiled the traditional “sport” of taming bulls and focused on the town of Alanganallur where the yearly festival is particularly vibrant. Over and over, images flashed on the screen of young men taunting decorated bulls and then being violently thrashed around by the bulls’ tremendous weight. Seen as an expression of bravery, the Jallikattu festival ends each year with over 250 injuries and 2-3 deaths. Conflicting views were outlined in the film: on the one hand, this is a living tradition in which farm animals are honored, men assert their bravery, and lavish prizes are awarded. Moreover, there are plenty of stories about the bad luck that follows if the tradition is not honored—sickness, poverty, and death. On the other hand, the “sport” has its avid critics who insist that the sport is unjust for its treatment of both men and bulls. People expressed the view that risking one’s life for this is ludicrous; “there is no culture in this”, an animal welfare activist commented.

The film did not definitively assert a view about the viability of Jallikattu. However, it showed a range of provocative scenes. For example, it showed the hospitals that are so overloaded on the festival day that the doctors cannot treat everyone in need. What must the doctors, who deal with daily tragedies of disease and infection, think of a festival in which men willingly put themselves at risk?

After an energetic question and answer session with the director, the second film was shown, “Death Knell to Nilgiri Biosphere”. This emotional film told the story of the people’s movement in Chamalapura, a village near Mysore against the establishment of a thermal power plant. The film juxtaposed scenes of vibrant, lush, and productive flora and fauna with ominous photographs of polluted and desolate landscapes. The narration alluded to the tension in many corporate development projects: those whose habitats are affected by the projects are often not those who benefit. Therefore, their livelihoods are taken away but not replaced. What was striking about the individuals who were interviewed was their intense devotion to the land: “we will die but not give up our land”, many commented. This commitment has been transferred into a powerful people’s movement that has risen to answer the government’s policies with descriptions of their real-life experiences in the face of large-scale construction.

Afterwards, the directors described their intention: to shed light on a particular movement to show that governmental policies can and should be answered and, if appropriate, protested. For the most part, the audience welcomed the presence of an activist film such as this in a festival, saying that films such as these are far too rare.

The question and answer sessions were important components to the evening to provide additional insight into the impact of the films. The Jallikattu filmmaker expressed that the film had the large impact of getting a stay order from the Supreme Court against the tradition; it was revoked after three days for a variety of reasons. The film was aired on many channels and received high appreciation.

Similarly, “Death Knell to Nilgiri’s Biosphere” was successful in staging people’s voices and transforming the voices into a movement to conserve the natural resources and unique biodiversity of the area of concern. The directors also pointed out that the people they profiled are not against three thermal power plants in uninhabited and arid areas. Instead, their voice is against the thermal plant that lies between two rivers, Kaveri and Kabini, a hot spot of biodiversity, one out of 15 in the world identified by UNESCO. The area has wildlife and a fertile stretch of agricultural land that stretches 3500 hectares. The film has helped people realize the danger of such development in this area and brought policy level changes in the Karnataka State.

The two films together were a powerful pair for the opening night. One showed the endurance and internal controversy around a tradition; the other showed the threat to a way of life and the unification of the people to combat such a threat. Both engaged the audience and sparked discussion, showing that “Culture and Heritage” is a theme that is alive and well in Madurai.