Shooting On A Shoe-String Budget
If you've always wanted to make a film, what's stopping you? "Anyone who has a handycam and a message to convey can make a documentary," insists Kanak Mani Dixit. The snow-haired editor of Himal magazine is adamant that documentaries need to move away from their grim portrayals. "We don't want to see women pumping water from tubewells," he says. "Did you see the first film today _ we want something like that."
Dixit is referring to Canada-based Sarah Kapoor's lighthearted, yet insightful, look at tourist destination Pokhara. As a Nepali, Dixit is pleased that Don't Pass Me By abrogates cliches in favour of more lively interaction between locals and tourists.
At India International Centre, where the film has been displayed as part of a travelling festival of South Asian documentaries, the response has astounded regulars who can't remember such house-full attendance for any event. Documentary buffs have sat through four documentaries at a stretch and you can see by the wide smile on Dixit's face that he is pleased. The smile widens as he tells you that he's been met with a similar response before in smaller Indian cities. "In fact, people in Guwahati have been so participative that we might even think of making it the collecting centre for such films," he says.
What's Dixit interest in this festival? To begin with, it started as Himal's brainchild as part of its anniversary celebrations. "I personally have nothing to do with films," says Dixit, "except that I love to promote creativity." In 1997, when Himal hosted the first festival of non-fiction films in Kathmandu, the response was amazing with entries from India, Pakistan, Bangaldesh and Sri Lanka. The award-winning entries were then taken on a tour of cities in South Asia and shown free to audiences.
In its second edition, the festival has grown by leaps and bounds. Fifty-two entries were received in Kathmandu and the three-member jury of Indian director Gautam Ghose, Pakistani actor-director Salman Shahid, and Sri Lankan critic and scholar Neloufour de Mel were hard-pressed to select the winners. Ultimately, two films, Thin Air by Mumbai-based Ashim Ahluwalia and No One Believes The Professor by Lahore-based Fajad Nabi won the award jointly. Thirteen other films got special mentions and various other prizes. "We were not looking for state of the art techniques. The script, the style and the message had to be good," says Dixit, citing the example of Buddha Lives In Jadugoda shot on a simple VHS camera.
All 15 films are now touring around the globe, going to cities where they can be projected in any large hall. "If you have a film club, or a community hall with a VCR and a projector, contact us and we will send you the films to screen for your neighbourhood," says Dixit. "
The filmmakers are the most delighted. Reena Mohan, who has crafted Skin Deep, an exploration of how contemporary women perceive beauty, says she is thrilled at finding a ready audience for her film. After Monday night's screening, she's got several phone calls from interested people who have asked her where they can obtain a copy of the film.
Dixit is already drawing up ambitious marketing plans for the films. How much does it cost to put together a festival like this one? "In the US, it would cost $2,00,000 or more," smiles Dixit. "In Kathmandu, we did it in $8,000, or its Nepalese rupee equivalent." Filmmakers have to come at their own cost to Kathmandu and show their films. But once shortlisted by the jury, Himal takes on the headache of ensuring the award-winning entries a fair audience.
So, get out that handycam and give those unexpressed ideas a shot. It's what the world could be waiting for.