16th Madurai Film Festival 2014
Films
Division Package:
OF
NATIONHOOD AND CITIZENSHIP
Curated
by Avijit Mukul Kishore
Curator’s
Note:
Films Division,
Government of India, is the second largest state-run documentary-producing
organisation in the world, the largest ones being its equivalents in the former
Soviet Union . It was formed in 1948, with the
mandate of recording the visual history of the newly formed nation, using the
medium of documentary film. This was seen as a suitable medium for informing
and instructing the people of the country with the zeal of creating an ideal
nation with ideal citizens. The Films Division archive is a rich repository of
the state’s rendition of visual history, with over 8000 films made in 14
languages.
“Of Nationhood And
Citizenship” is a package of films that reflect the state’s preoccupations in
the first three decades of the history if independent India . The films emphasise national
integration, infrastructure creation and reflect on the idea of citizenship,
sometimes in a didactic manner and at others in a much more nuanced way.
The language and form
of these films makes an interesting study, as do the distinct departures within
them with voices that interrogate and subvert the agenda of state propaganda in
ways that may be disturbing and delightful at the same time. These departures
are almost always expressed through formal innovation, irony and humour.
These films give us a
framework for viewing national propaganda in the present day oversaturated
scheme of 24-hour news.
PART
1: Reflections on Nationhood and Citizenship
Section
A
I
AM TWENTY
Directed
by SNS Sastry, English and Hindi, B/W, 1967, 20 min
Twenty
years after India 's
independence, the film maker travels across the country and interviews its
youth, those born in 1947. What does independence mean to them? What are their
dreams? How do they see themselves and the young nation that they symbolise?
The answers have a mix of idealism, irony, sarcasm, dismay, hope and optimism.
This film is as relevant today as it was over forty years ago.
Directed by S Sukhdev , Music, Colour, 1967,
58 min
“India 67” was commissioned to celebrate 20 years
of India ’s
independence. Sukhdev, working within the state-run Films Division, went on to
make a film that was far removed from propaganda.
Section
B
AMIR KHAN
Directed
by SNS Sastry, Hindi and Urdu, B/W, 35mm, 19 min, 1970
SNS
Sastry’s portrait of the Hindustani classical master Ustad Amir Khan is at once
gentle and audacious in the way he sets up images of his world of concerts,
disciples, world travel, his adoring and nagging wife and little child. Of
course, there is Khan sahab’s beautiful singing as well, as are his reflections
on recognition and remuneration. This film occupies an inspiring and enviable
place between documentary and fiction and could as much be a film about the
film maker and his place in this world as an artist.
THIS BIT OF THAT INDIA
Directed by SNS Sastry, English, B/W, 20 min, 1975
“This Bit of That India” is
a layered refection on several things – youth, diversity, progress, education
and technology. With an enormous undercurrent of adolescence and sexuality, the
film weaves in and out of seemingly disjointed documentary moments of that are
a celebration of individual freedom. These are intercut with a college
students’ performance of Federico Garcia Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba”,
as a metaphor for repression and conformity.
AND THE
STARS LOOK ON
Directed by OP Sharma, Music, B/W, 12 min, 1968
Directed by OP Sharma, Music, B/W, 12 min, 1968
Night comes to give peace and
rest to the tired soul. But in modern cities hubbing with industrial activities
it is not rest for all. How different sections of the community spend their
hard-earned and well-deserved rest is depicted in this film.
ARRIVAL
Directed by Mani Kaul, Music, Colour, 1980,
20 min
Concerning the arrival
of commodities such as vegetables and livestock as well as human labour into a
city from rural areas, this film explores the product-commodity-exchange value
relationship. Representing in itself a variety of exchange values, money as
capital destroys the natural specificity of people and things. In the process,
the labourer is reduced to a mere commodity.
DILLY
DALLYING
Directed
by KL Khandpur, English, 10 min, B/W, 1957
A short-fiction film set in the city of Mumbai , focusing on the
importance of punctuality in the life of the individual towards the service of
the nation. The message of the film is that the habit of procrastination and
vacillation can ruin a man and harm society at large.
OUR
NATIONAL ANTHEM / HAMARA RASHTRAGAN
Directed
by Pramod Pati, Hindi, 10 min, 1964
The film uses the
medium of animation to helping children to learn the correct way to sing our
National Anthem.
CLAXPLOSION
Directed
by Pramod Pati, Music, 2 min, B/W, 1968
A Stop-motion animation film on family
planning.
STINKING
STORY
Directed
by Loksen Lalvani, Hindi and English, 16 min, B/W, 1980
In large cities, there are sky-scrapers,
cinema houses, five-star hotels, race courses and petrol pumps but very few
public urinals and latrines. It is an uncivilized and unhygienic act to urinate
or defecate anywhere and everywhere. A hybrid film that combines comic
fictional and stylised documentary elements urging people not to ease
themselves in public.
VOICE
OF THE PEOPLE
Directed
by S. Sukhdev , English,
Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali with English subtitles, B/W, 1974, 17 min
“On the 16th of April, I read a news item
that there is going to be an all India railway strike. I got a
little worried. We decided to take the camera out to the people and ask them a
few questions.” Film maker S. Sukhdev proceeds to interview the labour force
and the average traveller in the city to make a compelling anti-strike argument
for the state. The strike was called by labour leader George Fernandes who does
not feature in the film.
PART
3: State Initiatives for the Citizen
SYMBOL
OF PROGRESS
Directed
by NS Thapa, English, B/W, 1965, 14 min
This film talks of the gigantic and iconic Bhakra Nangal Dam. It talks of the engineering marvel that transformed an arid sandy waste in thePunjab into a huge lake, with two power houses, which
irrigated two and a half million hectares of land. It stresses the ideals of
nation building through the construction of large infrastructure projects.
This film talks of the gigantic and iconic Bhakra Nangal Dam. It talks of the engineering marvel that transformed an arid sandy waste in the
VIVIDH
BHARTI
Directed by Amar Varma, Hindi, 14 min, B/W, 1965
The popular AIR service of Vividh Bharati is the theme of this film, started in response to the popularity of the popular entertainment services of RadioCeylon .
This service consisted of plays, light classical melodies, film songs, and
other items of entertainments for listeners or various age groups.
Directed by Amar Varma, Hindi, 14 min, B/W, 1965
The popular AIR service of Vividh Bharati is the theme of this film, started in response to the popularity of the popular entertainment services of Radio
A DECADE OF
ACHIEVEMENT
Directed by SNS Sastry, English, 22 min, B/W, 1976
A film showingIndia 's
achievements in various fields during the decade, 1966-1976. The film also
underlines the importance of 20-point programme and proclamation of emergency.
Directed by SNS Sastry, English, 22 min, B/W, 1976
A film showing
ACTUAL
EXPERIENCE NO. 4
Directed
by OP Arora, English, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati and Marathi with English
subtitles, B/W, 1969, 14 min
This film is a collection of
interviews of women across the country, about their experience of using the
loop as a family planning device. This was a controversial method, leading to
serious health complications. The film reflected that and was therefore held
from release for a significant period.