It was surely a proud moment for Director Goran Paskaljevic and his cast and crew to stand
in front of a star studded audience including cinema’s greats Amitabh Bachcan
and Rajnikant as he was called on stage to applaud his opening film, ‘Despite
the Fog’ at the 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India which
began in Goa. The Italian film looks at the issue revolving around minor
refugees in Europe, an issue which has impacted the lives of thousands of
innocent throughout the world.
Award winning Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic, has served as
Jury head at the 44th edition. He said, “It’s an intimate story. There are many
films already done on the subject. But this is a story about whether people
accept or don’t accept refugees in Europe and most cases they don’t. It serves
a metaphor to explore the xenophobic fog prevalent in the region. I thought
about what would I do if I met an abandoned kid, do I take him with me? Or
leave him. That’s how I developed the story”.
The film journeys into the plight of refugees who are abandoned
on the streets. In the film, Paolo, a manager at a restaurant finds an
eight-year-old child on the cold streets and decides to take him home. The
director delves into how society reacts to the presence of the child. Ali
Mousa, the young actor who played the refugee in the film is also attending the
festival in Goa.
Tinky George is excited to be at IFFI as his Konkani short film,
‘Why’ by RRG Creations has been selected in Goan section. The film will be
screened in the second half of the festival. “The opening film will be the best
of the best among the 300 films as the subject has to be relevant to the times.
The refugee problem has been across the globe and especially in Europe. Any
movie besides entertainment has to revolve around a central theme. We should
leave something to make the audience think about. Next month, the first
International Sports Film Festival will be held in Margao and Goan movie
‘Glory’ will be the opening film as it showcases Goa participating and winning
the first Santosh Trophy led by Brahmanand Sankhwalkar. The opening film has to
be relevant to the festival,” says Tinky. ‘Why’ is directed by Tinky George and
produced by R S Gowda.
‘Amori’, an National Award winning Goan film will also be
screened for IFFI for the first time. Salil Naik has been the lead actor in two
National award winning films, ‘Amori’ and ‘Enemy’. He has been to various film
festival with his films and understands the importance of a good opening film.
“The opening film sets the tone for the festival. It has to be impactful as
cinema is one of the strongest mediums. This is the message you receive when
you see it in front of your eyes. Reading is also powerful but you have to
visualise it yourself. Through the film on screen, with the background music
and the visuals, it is the best medium to convey your message. It is what you
want to show the audience,” says Salil, whose film ‘Amori’ deals with water
conservation.
The festival is also a great opportunity to meet and learn from
the masters of international cinema. With a treasure of masterclasses for the
festival, the film fraternity looks forward to these interactions. “It teaches
you a lot as it is great people giving lectures on their experiences. I am
looking forward to attending these masterclasses,” adds Salil.
Siddesh Naik who was part of ‘Juze’ which is also selected as a
film in the Goan Stories section says, “It’s a special status to commence the
film festival. At times, other films are better than the opening film. But it
definitely helps the filmmaker to later market the film as it has been chosen
as the opening film at a certain prestigious film festival.”
As
the festival has begun with a bang, film lovers are in for a great treat with a
host of genres to choose from, with retrospectives, revisiting the iconic films
and experiencing for the first time film premiers.
