FILM
We Are Listening
Director Kamar Ahmad Simon and producer Sara Afreen at the world premiere of the film at the 55th Dok-Leipzig in Germany. Photo: Martin Jehnichen
Living in the comforts of a big city where we seldom have to worry about disasters brought about by nature, we tend to ignore the pains of those who are constantly fighting against nature to ensure their right to existence. We give a cursory glance at articles on natural disasters taking place around the country. Anything that doesn't concern us, doesn't really matter to us.
In his creative documentary, 'Shunte Ki Pao!', Kamar Ahmad Simon questions this inclination to ignore the voices of the unheard. Set in a small coastal village called 'Sutarkhali', Kamar's directorial venture, produced by Sara Afreen, narrates the story of school teacher Rakhi, her husband Soumen and young son Rahul, who are forced to rebuild their lives after a tidal surge hits the coastal belts of Bangladesh. Kamar and his team have tried to give voices to these people who believe that life can't be limited to crying about the unfairness of nature. Instead of focussing on their anguish, the film emphasises on their unconquerable spirit that drives them to survive and follow their dreams despite every hardship.
Unsurprisingly, Kamar's efforts have borne fruit; 'Shunte Ki Pao!' is now the toast of the world. Even though, the film was released globally in 2012, it continues to garner awards even now. The film has won the Grand Prix at the 35th Cinéma du Réel, Paris 2013, the Grant Award at the Visions Sud Est from Switzerland in 2011 and the Best Pitch from the Asian Forum for Documentaries: Docedge Kolkata 2011, among many others. Moreover, the film has graced and will continue to grace a number of international film festivals, including the Berlin Film Festival 2012, Yamagata Film Festival 2013 in Japan and Film Southasia 2013. The Star Magazine spoke to the brilliant, young director about films and much more.
Bikram Sur is the artist of this unique poster while Mustafizur Rahman did the graphics.
Not Just A Hobby
While studying Architecture, I was drawn to classics like 'Bicycle Thief', 'La Doce Vita, 'Cinema Paradiso', etc. But when I first went to the screening of 'Dreams' by Akiro Kurosawa, I was totally blown away! It was my final year of graduation and I decided to do my dissertation presentation on the film itself. It was at this moment when I realized that films were going to be more than just a passion for me.
Financing Considerations
The projects in the pipeline are hugely influenced by financing considerations but not my creative process or casting decisions. Say that I have two projects in my mind, the one that gets attention from financers is sure to move ahead in the pipeline instead of the one that doesn't garner such attention.
To Worry Or Not To Worry About Audience Demands
I think that depends on the kind of films one is making. If you want to entertain the audience, you have to give them what they want, you have to perform. But if you are there to tell them a story, want to take them to a point of realisation, you just follow your heart and don't worry about the audience reaction.
The Independent Film Movement
The wider film market is yet to recognise the prospect of the new generation of filmmakers. Ironically, directors are only one dot of the 360 degrees film industry circle. The rest, like the actors, writer, distributors, exhibitors, marketers and others, are yet to respond to the call. Whereas traditional methods of Bangladeshi cinema have failed to link our 100 million youth, the internet, TV, newspapers and piracy have successfully been able to attract this significant group to foreign content. It's a total lack of understanding mostly by the industry stalwarts, the old vanguards, to face the new challenges of our time.
Film Festivals and More
I have been now travelling with the film for a year, starting from the world premiere of the film at the 55th Dok-Leipzig in Germany as the curtain-opener of the oldest documentary festival of the world. Since then, the film has been to around 15 leading international festivals. It was also the official selection in the 25th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the largest documentary festival of the world. The film also won the 'Grand Prix' in the 35th Cinéma du Réel from Paris. Before all this, the script of the film was awarded as the Best Pitch at the Asian Forum of Documentaries held in Kolkata and was also one of the nine projects to be invited to the Editing Lab of Campus Studio in Berlinale 2012.
In my case, all these were the only means to carry forward for the kind of films I wanted to make. Otherwise, no one would have any interest in a film that neither subscribed to the genre of fiction nor documentary!
Films and Social Media
Social media is playing a critical role in the promotion of my film, as even before a local release, we already have around 24 thousand fans following our Facebook page regularly. Social media plays an important role in connecting the young crowd who are taking to this alternate media, as it has become a significant part of their identity and life. Personally speaking, I am still a shy user of the media and have to struggle to find my expression.
Filmmakers' Responsibility To Culture
For me any storyteller, be it a filmmaker, a poet, or a painter, has a huge responsibility towards one's culture. Since it's a collection of wisdom passed over from one generation to the next, we need to remember that once our united culture is gone, it can't be brought back. Being a creative person, you have a skill to foresee things that other eyes may skip. Filmmakers, as artists, must look at the present but they should also be able to look beyond. They must have the ability to show us the links of the past and predict the future for the people to take a call on.
Money Matters
Independent films can also make money, but for that, others apart from the director, including the exhibitor, distributor, marketer have to think beyond the format and come out of the box. Moreover, even in format films where the 'star' drives the audience, it becomes a matter of luck for the film to succeed in terms of returns. This does not happen in most cases anymore.
In that aspect, independent film can offer a parallel market with less stars taking up most of the budget, less risky investments and more emphasis on script. This is evidently happening in Bollywood and if we are able to successfully adapt this system in our industry, we could attract the biggest groups in the audience, the 100 million youngsters who are below 40 years.
How to Change an Industry for the Better
Recently, a lot of good vibe is going around the film industry, which is great! But in real terms, I am very concerned with the challenges lying ahead and we don't seem to be prepared. Firstly, in no time, our big film audience is going to become the milking market for foreign films. It is already a fact in case of the multiplexes, where majority of the screens are running foreign content without much thought given to regulation. Secondly, with democratisation of technology, a fresh wave of film-enthusiasts is turning towards the media. However, without proper training in film-language or skill this talent is mostly wasted, like in the case of a blind defining an elephant. If you want to be a doctor, or engineer, or even a journalist, you are required to have hands on experience apart from a graduate certificate. This, interestingly, does not hold true for filmmakers in Bangladesh and that frankly, is alarming! A comprehensive film policy could have settled all this but we are still waiting for that even after 42 years of independence.
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