Cannes - My Experience Part 3/5

Short Film Corner - My Subplot

Most of these sweet little nothings like us, who call themselves independent filmmakers (though without a strong track record) are found at the Short Film Corner - A place bubbling with energy and a place full of talented people who have just started. People who have made a few short films and want to make feature length stuff in future. Most of these people are open for collaboration, and because they are not yet maligned by the big bad world, they care for the art. It is here that we draw our personal subplots.

 

After collecting our badges and bags (good thing to showoff), first place we visit the next day is the Short Film Corner.

 

(A picture taken by Sopan at the apartment)

 

We see there is a space to meet buyers. There are a few stalls of companies like Adami, Mubi, Creative Mind etc. who survive through talent search. There is a digital film library , which hosts about 40 odd computer station, equipped with all the films that have entered the short film corner as well as the ones in competition and critics week. Over next few days, you might end up spending many hours watching these films made by your newly made friends. Then there is a small workshop room and a counter for free coffee which serves free wine and beer during the densely crowded happy hour (evening 5-6). There were 3 mini theatres with seating capacity of average 10 people. Here you can book screening of your film once. I booked it for 5:40 on the first Monday, expecting a lot of people to be around for the free booze and I wasn’t disappointed. The place was the most happening place for us, I felt that we belong here.

 

There was a great workshop on Pitching that I attended on the third day at Cannes. There were 20 different people from 20 different nationalities and we opened up to each other in the pitching exercise. Everyone was asked to pitch a full length feature script. I pitched my film “Nomen” for the film. The trainer gave us feedback on our body language, structure of pitching, and minor details. Funny thing was in a strong contrast to how women are being suppressed in many parts of the world like India, the story that I narrated in my pitching, the next story was from Iceland and it was based on a Rainbow Party. What the hell is a rainbow party? The girl from Iceland explained it in quite a graphic detail to us. There wasn’t anyone else from the subcontinent to feel the jolts of cultural tectonic shifts though. I met some very good filmmakers in that workshop whom I would like to be in touch with. A senior Norwegian theatre actress and a Cuban Filmmaker were especially interested in my film. There was a guy from Chile, who talked about his industry and a girl from Turkey who discussed her film. It was all good fun. After the workshop, I met a few interesting Pakistani filmmakers as well.

There were interactions with festival directors, VP of Vimeo on digital distribution, Abbas Kiarostami etc. planned by the short film corner. There was one more workshop on Short Film Sales and a breakfast arranged with Festivals, buyers and distributors which weren’t so fruitful for me. Though I learned a lot from it and met many new people. There were about 30 films from India, and about 20 filmmakers were present to attend the festival. Met some of the most talented and interesting folks.

 

(A small gathering after one of the short films screening)

 

I watched many film screenings here as well. The length and breadth of the subjects and genres were truly awesome. Stories were interesting. Sample a few: a middle east based filmmaker’s story of a man kept in solitary confinement starts talking to an Ant ; A Bengali film about a young man’s fascination and coming of age with a backdrop of nude photography; A Mexican animated film about a hare; a Srilankan film about gem-mining; a Canadian documentary on esports; A Norwegian adaptation of Henri Ibsen’s play; a Turkish drama on holidays; a Pakistani documentary on kabootar fights; A Czech -Indian film based on a concept that dreams are written and worked on by a person, while we are asleep; An American comedy based in Switzerland, about failed personalities …. It was a wonderful world.

 

 

Screening of my film was the most exciting moment for me though. The response I got from the audience was exactly of the type I would have wished for. None of the 12-15 folks sitting there were Indians or knew Hindi. The Norwegian and Cuban Filmmaker I talked about made it to the screening along with one of her friends from US who has been teaching art for about 20 years. There were a few Mexican filmmakers and a couple of Srilankan Filmmakers. Post the end credits, when I turned on the lights there was a moment of silence, no one being able to articulate what they were feeling. I loved that moment. The Norwegian actress was the first one to speak, and I loved her comment, “For the first time, I was suffering known emotions along with a character and that character wasn’t a female.” The lady from US was equally vocal about how she liked the film. The Cuban guy was interested about the reference to mythology in my film. The Sri Lankans were a little slow to respond, which I later learned was because English was not the best language for them to articulate their thoughts. The Srilankan editor came to me and said that he would like to work with me if I plan to make a feature out of it. I cannot say how thankful and glad I am to him for saying that. It gave me a confidence that I hardly had. The Norwegian actress later made me meet one of her dancer friends from India, who also happened to be my school senior (small world it seems). Networking at Cannes work that ways, I learned. For people like us, Cannes it seems is all about creating a network

 

Cannes - My Experience Part 2/5

Business Of Films – Plotline

Once you scratch the star studded surface of Cannes Film Festival, you realize the layer below is all about business of films. For the first week, while the novice like us are settling, the stars are striking deals for their next films, producers are signing contracts for global distribution and sales of their films and the circus, fuelled by insane money runs in all might and vigor, through out day and night, on inaccessible yachts and celebrity hotels. You see celebrities vying for the who’s who parties to attend. Everyone seems to be competing to get the passes for a party. We managed one, but were too tired to attend by the time it started. Everything about this business side of films is intimidating.

 

 

Below the level of yachts and private parties is a huge market called ‘Marche Du Films’. It is set up on 2 floors of the Palais de Festival. It is filled with names known and unknown, companies that make films put a booth to sell their films. Familiar booths from India were, NFDC, Eros, Ultra and CII. People range from suave to desperate. A filmmaker from Brunei thought I was a film buyer from India, and pitched his film. I felt too bad to tell him the truth. Think of it, you spend fifty thousand dollars to set up a stall there, and are desperate to find buyers for your film, would you not be hopeful when you pitch your film. It might have taken years to be made. I also met people who produce Doraemon J. My producers Look! :)

 

Every country had bought space and created their pavilion to accommodate and promote cinema from their area. And hence, India Pavilion was the hang out place for all Indians to make connections and talk about their future projects. You see powerful people like Ramesh Sippy, Avatar Panesar (from Yash Raj Films),Guneet Monga and likes talking about mainstream as well as independent films production.

 

At the parties, which is basically a time to get free liquor, you see the chic Indians kissing cheeks in air, the way French people do. A story about that later. In the coproduction parties organized every evening with countries like New Zealand, Australia, Germany and France, people like us, with their new ideas ready in their bags, try to pitch ‘possible films’ to these ‘foreign’ producers. It always seems that they are interested, and they would love it. But neither happens. They tell you, “Sounds like a good idea, contact me when you have the script”. You humbly exchange cards. You put it in your upper pocket where you keep all the most important cards you would like to come back to and he keeps it in the lower pocket of his coat, which you assume is the dumping ground for strugglers.

Finally I walked up to a few producers and directors and I told them, “I am a writer from Pune and I don’t think anyone cares for writing here.” That kind of touched the right chord ; whomsoever I have said that smiled and gave me their card and told me, “Mumbai mein milna”. J

 

I clearly saw the creative artists finding themselves lost in this hullabaloo. In the massive cloud of stars, producers and filmmakers, we floated like sweet nothings, trying to weave our own little sub plot in the story.

 

Cannes - My Experience Part 1/5

The Glitz and Glamor of Cannes – The Protagonist

After the results for Cannes Film Competition were announced, we were walking past the “Artists’ Entrance” on the back side of the Palais de Festival. We saw the press reporters standing there, waiting for stars. Before we realized how and why of it, we saw, Sophia Loren, Uma Thurman, Sofia Coppola, Gael Garcia Bernal, Asia Argento and likes coming out of that door, just a few feet away.

I did not feel star struck, I generally don’t.

 

And then SHE walked out of the entrance, in her shining blouse and a black skirt - Monica Bellucci.

A moment when mind goes blank and you realize the power of celebrities. She has grown old and her face has withered but still it made me remember everything from Malena to Matrix. Damn! I felt like Renato waiting for Malena with his little new cycle on his side, wanting to act like a grown up : A moment when you discover something unknown in yourself. It wasn’t for the first time that I was seeing a celebrity but it was differentJ. And Cannes Film Festival has this ability to surprise you with such moments every now and then. This was just one of the many moments that brought surprises.

A similar moment was when someone asked me to make some way to go through a crowded room. It was only when he was a feet away right in front of me, that I realized the little man was Kamal Hassan. You just feel short of words for moments like those.

 

When you first meet the festival de Cannes, it hits you with all its glitz and glamor. We met a humble good listener, Resul Pookutty right at the registration desk on our very first day and he chatted with us for quite some time. Evening at the premiere of Grace De Monaco, stars glittered all around – Alfonso Curon, Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Mallika Sherawat and Uday Chopra (Hell Yeah!).

 

As we basked in the glory of the place, walking in our black tuxedos and bow tie, in those 3-4 premieres we attended, we saw likes of Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts walking the same red carpet.

(In this post this is the only photo clicked by me. I have personally avoided taking clicks with celebrities. I am just too shy for that kind of stuff :))

 

And of course there were films that we watched along with the filmmakers. The best moment of the trip was watching Pulp-fiction on a huge screen at the beach along with Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman and John Travolta. And we watched the only Indian film there “Titli” along with the filmmakers. We were sitting next to Milind Soman, who was a part of the audience like us.

The standing ovations, the respect for filmmakers, the men in tuxedos and women in gowns are memories to keep. You will not remember how many times you have kissed in life, but you will always remember your first kiss. We kissed Cannes.

 

 

Poem - On Voting

We went to our polling booth at 8'oclock in the morning this April. There were young boys and girls, mostly working in IT companies here, standing in line, along with housewives, senior citizens and all the rich and poor of the area. Just looking so many educated people vote, made me feel very good about democracy. A free country is the most undervalued and badly maintained asset that we have. Here is a small poem for those 10 Crore first time voters and to those educated people whose belief in voting have been rekindled.

 

बिखरी धूप सुरजों की बादलों को काट कर,

उभर रही है पुस्तकें आज यूँ ललाट पर,

 

 

अग्यात वास में छिपे थे, वीर कुछ समाज के,

है धनुष सज़ा रहे वो, अब चयन के बान से,

भुजाएं अब धधक रही है, शत्रुओं पे वार कर,

निकल रहे है पार्थ-पुत्र चक्रव्यूह पार कर,

 

बन गये धनी कितने, धनी का झूठा चाट कर,

भाषा, रंग, धर्म के, नाम सब को बाँट कर,

वो स्याह टीका धर्म का, उंगली पे लिए हुए,

ठाट से दिखा रहा है,  नवप्रीत सा किए हुए,

निकलेगी अब के टोलियाँ, दास को सम्राट कर,

सूरज नया बनाएँगे, किरणें सुनहरी छांट कर,

 

बिखरी धूप सुरजों की बादलों को काट कर,

उभर रही है पुस्तकें आज यूँ ललाट पर

 

 

AAP-A Poem

सागर का पानी गहरा है,

माता की चीख़पे पहरा है,

विश्वास है डगमग सेना का,

डर सब में सहमा सहमा सा,

कब पाप मान से ठहरा है?

राम बैठ सब देख रहे है,

 

श्रद्धा की सांस अंदर लेकर,

वो नाम लिखें पत्थर लेकर ,

आगे सेना ये बढ़ती है

ये जान राम मुस्काते रहे,

छिलका, तिनका, कंकर लेकर,

हर एक गिलहरी आएगी,

 

अब दौर दमन का बीता है,

कमज़ोर ज़हर ना पीता है,

सब पार्थ शस्त्र उठाएँगे,

जब मोहनदास सिखलाएँगे,

जो मूक क्रांति की गीताहै,

बाण चयन के तत्पर है,

 

सिंघासन अब कुछ पल के है,

पंजे-सायकल सब कल के है,

अरविंद अरविंद से उलझेगा,

अब आम ख़ास हो जाएगा,

मुद्दे अब बिजली नल के है,

आज़ादी अब दुल्हन है

 

A poem after verdict on article 377

एक निराकार मन की आशा,
का मुझ पे है, अभिशाप ये क्या?
अपने भी नहीं अपनाते है, 
ऐसा मेरा अपराध है क्या?

एक बार अगर, बँध जाए जो,
कोई उर-उर्मि के बंधन से,
दुनिया उसकी, बस दो नैना,
मलिन न होता, वो अंजन से,
कंगन से फिर कंगन मिलते,
औ' आलिंगन, आलिंगन से,

तब जाती-लिंग-वर्गो का भेद,
करने को आत्मसात है क्या?
अपने भी नहीं अपनाते है,
ऐसा मेरा अपराध है क्या?

हाजी कोई, कोई पादरी,
कोई वेदो के श्राविक है,
आदम-ईव का, रिश्ता इनको,
लगता बहुत स्वाभाविक है,
संयम परहेज़ या ब्रह्मचर्य,
बतलाओं सब, क्या दैहिक है?

अपनी पसंद की प्रीत यहाँ,
कर सकते बस अभिजात है क्या?
अपने भी नहीं अपनाते है,
ऐसा मेरा अपराध है क्या?

ये इस्मत के उतार लिहाफ़*,
तुम बल अपना दिखलाते हो, 
मीरा** की तुम अगन न समझो,
उसे साफ प्रेम सिखलाते हो, 
हम को देकर ये मृत्युदंड, 
अब भाई को गले लगाते हो, 

तुम लोग तो हो भरमाये लोग,
तुमको सत सब अभिज्ञात है क्या?
अपने भी नहीं अपनाते है,
ऐसा मेरा अपराध है क्या?

एक निराकार मन की आशा,
का मुझ पे है, अभिशाप ये क्या?
अपने भी नहीं अपनाते है,
ऐसा मेरा अपराध है क्या?

* इस्मत चुगताई की कहानी लिहाफ़(जो समलैंगिक रिश्तों पे लिखी गयी थी) के लिए उनपे मुक़द्दमा चला था
**मीरा नायर की Fire फिल्म के लिए भी कई लोगो ने उनका विरोध किया था

Gujarati Gazal - વેવલો થા માં

જરા નીરખી લે શમણાં ના વિરામો, વેવલો થા માં,
કદી ઝુલ્ફો નહીં આપે વિસામો, વેવલો થા માં,

છો ઉપમા ચાંદ ની આપું, કહું ચંચલ છે ઝરણાં સમ,
કહે ઍ પ્રેમ ની વાતે, નકામો વેવલો થા માં,

જો પૂછું કોણ પાગલ પૂછતો 'રે છે, "તો ક્યા હોતા"
કહે જૂના છે ગાલિબ ના કલામો, વેવલો થા માં,

કતલ કરવાં, ધરમ ના નામ પ્રેમી ને બધા રસ્તે,
ઉભા છે પાદરી, પંડિત, ઇમામો, વેવલો થા માં

અહીં સૌ ઘર ને છોડે છે, કમાણી ની કહાણી માં,
કરીને યાદ તૂ કાચી બદામો, વેવલો થા માં

ફરે મા-બાપ જ્યારે વિશ્વ, જીવન આ સફળ થાશે,
જો ફાટેલું આ ગંજી ને પજામો, વેવલો થા માં

નથી યુધ્ધો કોઈ જીતા, દયા થી અશ્વ હાંકી ને,
હવે હંકાર ખેંચી ને લગામો, વેવલો થા માં

વતન આઝાદ થઈ જાશે, જરા પડકાર દુશ્મન ને,
ઘણી નબળી તે મારી છે સલામો, વેવલો થા માં.

મને તો ઍલ્પ્સ ની કુણી બરફ પર ટ્રેક કરવી છે,
કરી લે ઍક વારી ચારધામો, વેવલો થા માં

નથી ગમતા, સજળ પોહા કહે જો કૃષ્ણ કલયુગ ના,
કહી શકશે ફક્ત ઍને સુદામો, વેવલો થા માં

શરમ શાને કરે 'શાહ' સૌ અહીં મસ્તક ઝુકાવે છે,
ચરણ માં બુત્ત ના રાજા-નિઝામો, વેવલો થા માં