Shomik Basuray on presenting Kolkata's Hakka Chinese community in From Nowhere: ‘This is home, even if it is not ideal’

A place can be home yet never make you feel you belong For Kolkatarsquos dwindling Hakka Chinese community this feeling has shaped generations of lives Filmmaker Shomik Basuray stumbled upon their story during his travels to the city and realised it needed to be toldThe Mumbaibased writer director and producer who founded the Bombay Film Company in 2011 and produced Beg Borrow Steal 2011 speaks to midday about discovering the community the reasons behind its dwindling population and the question of identity that lies at the heart of his short film From NowhereShomik BasurayExcerpts from the interviewHow did your association with the Hakka Chinese community begin and what made you tell this storyA few things intersected Irsquom a Bengali from Mumbai with a lot of relatives in Kolkata I keep travelling back to meet people for shoots or other work I was aware of the Hakka people in Kolkata There are some in Mumbai as well I knew there were a couple of areas where they were clustered and I was curious Generally I like photographing and documenting cultures and spaces that are disappearing Chin Chen Hillary Chu who plays Hillary in the film is a makeup artiste I got connected to the community through her I subsequently became close to someone called Henry whose life is the core of this filmHow did you go about forming the storyI would take trips just to hang out with Henry I observed him closely I had no clear idea at that point that I was going to make a film We would just go and hang out in Chinatown He would take me to temples that are padlocked because there are no more people to take care of them There are these huge houses that are now boarded overEvery trip I would see that Chinatown was being chipped away little by little I began to understand why many of them felt marginalised and othered even if they didnrsquot articulate it My family has also moved out of Kolkata for economic reasons but we donrsquot feel a sense of bitternessWhy do these people feel that That sense of being marginalised and not being visible struck me There is also a lot of historical baggage going back to 1962 when they were sent to concentration camps That sense of being an outsider in a place where yoursquove always lived I found sad and interesting Itrsquos a complex emotionApart from looking different are there other reasons why the community has struggled to flourishThere are multiple reasons Kolkata itself has gone through some economic decay which is why therersquos such a huge Bengali population outside the state So that is true for them and us But I wonrsquot say thatrsquos the only part The Hakka Chinese community are a little inwardlooking They always have familyrun businesses whether itrsquos leather or restaurants They havenrsquot integrated that well into the new economyHow did the community react to the filmMy immediate cast has seen the film Kenneth Emmanuel Liao who plays Henry and his father run a small restaurant in the Benton Street area When Kenneth saw the film for the first time I wasnrsquot there with him He said lsquoForget being good or bad but when I saw the film I almost criedrsquo The reason this film works is that the situations and conflicts shown in it are authentic Someone very close to them is leaving or they have to leave Kennethrsquos own sister left KolkataThe ending is open to interpretation Does Henry leave or stayI donrsquot know if he goes or he doesnrsquot go But what I was trying to convey is the conflict he faces He is not able to make up his mind about where he belongs He is at peace that whatever it is it may be imperfect not ideal but this is home Even if he does leave he will not leave with that bitternessScreened atlsquoFrom Nowherersquo was screened at the Mumbai International Film Festival MIFF Bangalore International Short Film Festival BISFF and Chicago South Asian Film Festival CSAFF The short film has been selected for Interfilm Berlin Film Festival and will be screened on November 12 and 1425003000People left in Hakka Chinese community in Kolkata