IFFI Daily - 28-11-08 - International Film Festival of India

28 Nov. 2008
Film adaptations need not be literal translations
nternationally acclaimed filmmaker Adoor
IGopalakrishan feels adaptations from literary
works do not mean literal translation on celluloid.
"Pillai has more than 400 short stories to his credit. I
chose eight stories and decided to make two films. If
‘Four women’ was about emotions of women set in
different backdrops, my new film is linked by crimes
in the background of the Second World War. India
was not directly involved but since the effect was there
since it was a colony of the British" he said.
"A climate for crime" analyses a series of small crimes
that take place in that period. He said the four chapters
of the film tell stories connected by the recurring
theme of crime. Starting from simple, parable-like
tales about ordinary people, the narrative slowly takes
on questions of love, loyalty and morality leading to
complex issues of life.
‘These film can be seen as my tribute to the author I
grew up reading’, said Adoor.
He said "A climate for Crime" was his 11th film and
screening at IFFI was its premiere. The world
premiere of the film will take place in Dubai
International film festival next month.
The filmmaker said apart from Thakazhi Sivasankar
Literary adaptations only form the basic influence, Pillai, who was a great influence on his literary tastes,
Adoor said at a press conference here. He said like his he has used the works of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
last film "Four women", "Oru Pennum Randaanum" and Paul Zacharia in his films.
(A climate for Crime) is also an adaptation of the ‘People, especially students of cinema should see the
literary works of Thakazhi Shiv Shankara Pillai. retrospectives. They should not go by the year of
The project to make films on Pillai's stories came
about when Doordarshan in their Timeless Classics
series wanted to compile works of writers in different
languages who have produced classic literature.
production. A good film is always contemporary and
has so much to offer’ said the master about the films in
the Festival.
RM
Man falls in love through his eyes,
Woman through her ear: Woodrow Wyatt
he War of the Sexes is as old as time. Cinema is
Tno different. Though there is an Indian
Heritage section on women, Severine Wemaere,
Managing Director of Thomson Foundation for
Film and TV Heritage said it is ironic that no film
made by a woman filmmaker had been included in
this section.
She was speaking at a seminar on ‘Women on
Cinema and Women in Cinema’ held as part of the
section. Inspired by the restored Film Lola Montes,
the film heritage section has 8 films, made by male
filmmakers or as commented by Jean-Francois
Rauger, Director of Programming, Cinematheque
Francaise “Women as seen by men”.
Suresh Chabria, Professor of Film Appreciation
took listeners to the 19th century where cinema was
influenced by classics like Anna Karenina by Leo
Tolstoy or by Gothic literature, to the present where
women are depicted as victims of patriarchy.
Referring to Indian cinema, he spoke about great
filmmakers like Bimol Roy who saw film actress
Nutan as the epitome of the suffering women.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap brought a refreshing
view on the subject. He referred to how he
approaches a woman subject in his movies.
According to him, representation of women in
cinema today is about survival. He was himself in
the process of understanding women: ‘the mystery
is what attracts me to a female character’.
Neha Arora
Indian entrepreneurs have helped change European perception of India
r Xavier Guerard, Advisor, Indian films to the
MEuropean union, says $ 120 million are set
aside every year to promote European films unlike
Indian cinema.
Speaking at the "Open Forum" on the topic "Indian
films and world market" organised by the Federation
of Film Societies of India in association with DFF and
ESG, he said official investment helps promotion on
the international scene.
He said he had himself been working on the audio
visual scene in India for six years in the French
embassy before taking up his present assignment.
He said European and Indian films found it difficult to
reach each other because they faced a peculiar
problem of not having a distinct identity. There is so
much variety in Indian cinema that one cannot
describe it to foreigners.
Indian cinema lacked institutional support for the
international market, whereas there are 27 countries in
the European Union and films get a budget of $ 120 He said "Lagaan" was a fairly good success in France, French to change their perception about India, he
million per year to promote the films at international as was "Matrubhoomi". "There should a regular flow added.
level. European cinema is niche cinema, he said. of films promoted and distributed at regular basis," he
NFDC Managing Director Nina Lath Gupta said
He said in Europe outside the United Kingdom, there said.
distribution and not production levels were
was no market for Indian films because the number of He felt the image of India was confusing to impediments for Indian cinema. “The duration of our
people of Indian origin is very less. The UK has more Europeans. ‘Even filmmakers identify with subjects movies of two to three hours puts off European
than four million people from the South Asian region of calamities, miseries and accidents in India and short filmmakers. But our style of filmmaking is unique.
and they form a large market for Indian movies. film and documentary filmmakers approach me with The Film Bazaar organised on the sidelines of the
In France, there is a sizeable Tamil population and their intention for making such films’ he regretted. International Film Festival of India will play an
Tamil films and television have a good market.
important role in strengthening distribution of cinema
While his main job was to promote India in France, he
"Devdas" was screened at Cannes and it got a good
on a global platform.
said this was changing due to globalisation. L N
opening when it was released in theatres. It sold Mittal, who bought French steel company Arcellor, She felt that productions should get publicized and
60,000 DVDs costing $ 140 each. In France, a theatre Ratan Tata who bought Jaguar, and Reliance promoted at the initial level so that audiences know
ticket costs $ 10. The numbers may be small but Entertainment which has invested heavily in Steven about the films by the time of release.
revenue is substantial. Spielberg's production company, have helped the RM
Edited by : B. B. Nagpal on behalf of Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, New Delhi and
Entertainment Society of Goa
Photos by : Photo Division & Andrew Pegado
Production : Kishore Kumar, Vilas Pagare
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