Miffed by miff

Backed by the government, the Mumbai International Film Festival, true to its negative history, yet again alienated many documentary filmmakers

Ajinkya Shenava andn Arindam Banerjee Mumbai

The curious onlooker at the recently held Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) could easily lose himself amidst the spectacle of the closing ceremony at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA).  Strolling through the heady ambience of "award winning filmmakers" engaging in the masquerade of discussion for a TRP-driven visual media, it was transparent how ironically the eternal debate between realism and the hyper-real crystallised itself outside the MIFF podium.

While this edition of MIFF managed to lurch through the festival period without any superficial hiccups, many uncanny questions remain unanswered. An air of discontentment lingers among a large number of critically acclaimed and independent documentary filmmakers in India.

Saba Dewan, director of The Other Song, was so disillusioned by the selection procedure that she decided to withdraw her film in protest after being selected for the non competitive category. "MIFF has been mired in controversy since 2004. I find it surprising that the authorities blatantly disregard any attempts at reform. The selection has been getting shoddier and shoddier and I was shocked to see the films that were omitted from the festival this year," she said.

Ananya C Chakraborty, director of Understanding Trafficking, which was rejected by the festival, speaks of the ludicrousness of certain decisions taken by the MIFF committee: "...the most ridiculous part of the whole selection process was that from this year MIFF has withdrawn it's national competition section and turned it into completely international... but out of three of the four sections of the festival, they could select only one international film each..."

The irony is inherent. The president of the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA), Jahnu Baruah, stressed on the importance of documentary films in India, "particularly, documentary filmmakers of this country - they need encouragement. MIFF has been the main encouraging platform. So that is what MIFF actually means to us".

Films like Wagah (Supriyo Sen) and Bilal (Sourav Sarangi), which have been acclaimed internationally in film festivals, were rejected by MIFF. While many quality films that have won prestigious awards were rejected, many were pushed to the non competitive section without adequate explanation. The Superman of Malegaon (Faza Ahmed Khan) and The Other Song (Saba Dewan), which have several international awards to their credit, were treated rather shoddily.

Says Supriyo Sen, "The genre of documentary films has seen radical transformations since the conventional age of descriptive biopics and the overwhelming 'voice of god' commentaries. The selection committee members themselves have no exposure to the emerging trends in short films. This reflects in the films that have been omitted in this festival."

So great was the unrest among filmmakers that a PIL was filed challenging the selection process. The Mumbai High court, however, rejected the demands of the PIL and gave a negative verdict. The PIL mentions the anguish of the filmmakers regarding bureaucratic high-handedness and the alleged corruption which affected the quality of the films.