When the festival Film Southasia (FSA)
commenced in Kathmandu in 1997, the aim was to not only popularise the
documentary so that it entertains, but also to inform and change lives. The
best and most representative films from this festival which travel around the
region and the world, in between festivals, constitute the Travelling Film
Southasia (TFSA).
“Film Southasia was the first festival of
Southasian documentaries ‘for the region, of the region and by the region’. It
continues to be the premier Southasian festival where documentary and
non-fiction filmmakers congregate to exchange ideas, hold discussions and catch
up on issues, trends, people, places and events normally neglected by
mainstream discourse. The films are screened in a commercial cinema complex
with paid tickets and halls are usually packed – this is unique for Southasia
and perhaps elsewhere in the world too. The festival travels as TFSA to
different corners of the region and the globe, showcasing the best and most
representative non-fiction films produced over the last two years. The
documentaries can touch on any subject – social, political, cultural or
otherwise, as long as it has to do with Southasia or its diaspora,” explains
director, Mitu Varma, who has been associated with the festival since its
inception.
The genesis of this festival arises from
the FSA belief that documentary and non-fiction films are powerful mediums that
can reach out to the public and build empathy between communities, sub-regions,
provinces and countries. From the initial regions of Bangladesh, India, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, FSA and TFSA have expanded their reach to Afghanistan
and Burma as well.
Now as TFSA prepares to host their
forthcoming package of a diverse genre of films, Varma maintains, “The TFSA
package that will be screened here will comprise some of the best and most
representative films from Southasia 2013, held in Kathmandu that year. The
current package comprises eight films from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma,
Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.”
However, the ultimate purpose of hosting
the festival in Goa, once again, is to rope in local participation. “One of my
main purposes in travelling to Goa is to invite the Goan community of
documentary filmmakers to submit their films as prospective entries for our
upcoming festival FSA ‘15 to be held from November 19 to 22 in Kathmandu this
year. It would be wonderful to have more participation from the state where
IFFI is held regularly and where there is a strong community of discerning film
goers,” avers Varma.
The 10th edition of the festival to be held
in Kathmandu is made more relevant in the light of the recent devastating
earthquake there. “In our own small way, FSA wants to put the festival together
in time in order to help Kathmandu get back on its feet, and keep its
reputation for being the cultural hub for the region intact,” maintains Varma.
(Travelling Film Southasia will be held at
the International Centre Goa, Dona Paula from July 10 to 12, 2015)
Box
Films on show
Deepa Dhanraj’s ‘Invoking Justice’ on
all-women Jamaats in Tamil Nadu, Callum MacRae’s searing ‘No Fire Zone’ on the
last days of the war in Sri Lanka, Nima Sarvestani’s amazing ‘No Burqas Behind
Bars’ on women prisoners in Afghanistan, two films, ‘No 62 Pansodan Street’ and
‘Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls’, that give glimpses into the changing society
in Burma, the fun-filled ‘My Punjabi Love for You’ from Pakistan that conveys a
subtle message on gender rights, the touching ‘Who Will be a Gorkha’ on the
rush to join the British Army in Nepal and Kannan Arunasalam’s ‘Story of One’
on missing persons in the Sri Lanka war, are the films on show.
