Moving Pictures

Chandel and his team shot Ek Gaon Aisa Bhi as part of their project and won the second prize at Punjab Virasat Foundation’s recently held film festival. But their moment of personal triumph came when the MLA of the area paid a visit to the village and promised improvement. “That was something,” says Chandel,who is part of an increasing breed of local filmmakers who are using films to zoom in on the real Punjab.

Rajeev Kumar,for example,is spearheading a brand new movement — the Punjab Virasat Foundation (PVF). “The idea is to change people’s attitudes and thinking by research,filmmaking and film festivals. We also work with artistic communities from rural areas to salvage dying arts,” says Kumar who believes in giving one-tenth of his income towards such a cause. The last festival they held was at Talwandi Salem and it showcased films like Amandeep Singh’s Main Haan Bhagat Singh,Kumar’s Life of Paash and Anureet’s award winning documentary Why We Are Killing Our Daughters. Part of the project was also two films by students from the Chitkara school of Mass Communication— Minu Datta’s film on phulkari,Navleen Lakhi’s on four local rappers while Shahzad Khan panned his camera on the delectable cuisines of Punjab. “The process zooms into the lives of locals,” says Dutta and Lakhi.

Singh points out the changing perception of the villagers are livening up this road show. “To begin with,the villagers were awestruck with the technology but now they try to understand the idea behind the film,” he says. “It’s not easy,though,” adds Kumar,a vice-president with 9X. “Carrying the equipment,maintaining it and setting it up can be a draining process,” say the filmmakers. It is here that the NRIs come of help. “Once our films get noticed at festivals across the world,NRIs come forward,often funding heath and education projects,” says another independent filmmaker Simran Kaler. Kaler,who has made films on rivers of Punjab,effect of pesticides,cancer and bonded labour,feels that villagers relate more to health-related issues and films based on such themes prove to be very popular.

If Dr Gaurav Chhabra’s garage film festival congregates short filmmakers from all over the region,Naval Preet Rangi’s documentation pays attention to lost pages in history. Amarjit Virdi’s animated features on Sikh history and religion have been popular in local circles while comedian Jaspal Bhatti’s son Jasraj Bhatti’s Nanhi Chidiya and Sydney Chala Sydney —the former an animation on female foeticide,the second a satire on the recent attacks on Indians in Australia—have also won critical acclaim.

GS Chani and his wife,Harleen Kohli have set about capturing the period of violent terror in Punjab from 1988 to 1992. From discussing politics and religion to interacting with scholars to showcase art and culture,their films have been a talking point. “Mightier Than the Gun,Punjab Document,Har Inquilab ke Baad,Khalsa Tricentenary are some of our works that are distributed free of charge. Films have the power to bring about an attitudinal change,” says Chani.

For many years now,Mangal Dhillon has been painstakingly working on spiritual films to tackle the menace of drugs. “Through my films,I am trying to reach out and end this evil,” he says. “The state government’s decision to shut down their films division was a blow to the independent filmmaker,” adds filmmaker-producer Amarjeet Singh,who runs his own film society,Creative Film Forum. “It’s been set up to promote non-commercial films and newcomers of the region,” says Singh,all set to host a one-day award-winning documentary film fest in the city with V Shantaram as the chief guest.

Aesthetics,says Daljit Ami,is not the exclusive property of the intellectual. “If you are an honest communicator,people will get the message,” says Ami,whose films on Punjab include Karseva,Born in Debt,Zulm aur Aman among others.

The lack of finances often stifles independent filmmaking,says Ami,arguing the need in Punjab for a film society. He dates the practice of taking new innovations in thought to people around 1885,when scientist Ruchi Ram Sahni kickstarted a science movement and through a lantern projector,made villagers aware of great discoveries and inventions. The greatest advantage of a film is that anybody can understand the medium,Ami says,and it makes the platform truly democratic.