Altogether, a very rich and diverse haul of films, of which we can be justifiably proud.
Illustration/Uday Mohite
The Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF)’s 50th anniversary has turned out to be a double celebration for us as well, with an astonishing, record 18 films and series in official selection from India, South Asia and Diaspora. These include eight films and series from India, four South Asian films beyond India, and six South Asian Diaspora films. Quick recap: The Indian films and series are Anurag Kashyap’s Monkey in a Cage (Bandar), Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, Bikas Mishra’s Bayaan and Jitank Singh Gurjar’s In Search of the Sky (Vimukt). Additionally, there is Gandhi, the series co-created by Hansal Mehta and Sameer Nair, Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest, 1970, restored), Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975, restored), and Sohrab Hura’s short, Disappeared.
There is a strong presence from South Asia beyond India. Seemab Gul’s Ghost School (Pakistan, Discovery) by the British-Pakistani artist, is a debut feature combining social critique with magical realism, as 10-year-old schoolgirl Rabia, unimpressed that her school has suddenly shut down because of rumours that it is possessed by djinns, spirits, uncovers a web of corruption, feudalism and patriarchy. Adnan al Rajeev’s Ali, a Bangladesh-Philippines film in Short Cuts-4, has already earned two Special Mentions, in the Cannes Film Festival’s Shorts Competition and Kyiv International Short Film Festival. With metaphorical images of great beauty and terror, the film follows a young village man, who speaks in a man’s voice but can sing in a woman’s voice, resisting his mother’s insistence on social conformity — we see lips literally sewn shut with a needle and thread — as he sings a beautiful Lalon fakir song in a feminine voice at a music contest. Sana Zahra Jafri’s Permanent Guest, Pakistan, in Short Cuts-6, explores childhood sexual abuse of a woman by a male relative, who revisits the family years later. Agapito, Beloved, by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle Romero, Philippines (Short Cuts-1), is on an affair blossoming in a bowling alley; one of its production companies is Katalog Films, a Philippines-Bangladesh collaboration.
From the South Asian Diaspora, two diverse features comment on the evils of capitalism: Aneil Karia’s Hamlet in Centrepiece, starring Riz Ahmed and Sheeba Chaddha, a powerful British film adapting Shakespeare’s great tragedy in Punjabi and Shakespearean English. And Good Fortune, directed by American comedian Aziz Ansari, with roots in Tamil Nadu, is an American film in English, in a Gala presentation. Actor-writer-director Aziz Ansari — who won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for the Master of None series in 2018 — here co-stars with Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen in a superb, laugh-out-loud comedy, with Reeves playing an angel who has come to earth with a core of empathy for workers at the bottom of the gig economy. The film is due for an Indian theatrical release on October 17. Ansari takes forward the trend of comedians becoming film actors/stars/directors, including Charlie Chaplin, Chris Rock and Jordan Peele, to our own Kapil Sharma, as singers once became stars when sound came to the movies.
Japanese-American director Eimi Imanishi’s debut feature Nomad Shadow, in Centrepiece, is a USA-Spain-France co-production, backed by American-Indian producer Shrihari Sathe and others. When Mariam, a Moroccan woman who escaped to Spain and worked there, is deported back to Morocco, she finds herself almost a stranger in her own conservative Muslim family home. Kalainithan Kalaichelvan’s Karupy, Canada (he’s Canadian-Sri Lankan Tamil), is an absurd family drama in Short Cuts 5, of the chaos following a Tamil matriarch’s dramatic announcement.
Salar Pashtoonyar’s I Fear Blue Skies, Canada, in Short Cuts 2, explores the impact of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, on an aid worker’s life; his Bad Omen had won a Student Academy Award. And there is Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset in Discovery, a noirish tale of mystery and desire by the Canadian-Tibetan filmmaker. Altogether, a very rich and diverse haul of films, of which we can be justifiably proud.
Meenakshi Shedde, film curator, has been working with the Toronto, Berlin and other festivals worldwide for 30 years. She has been a Cannes Film Festival Jury Member and Golden Globes International Voter, and is a journalist and critic.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com
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