Noted Documentary Film Maker, K. P. Sasi, moderator of the session, quoted the German activist and intellectual, Rudolf Baro and said, “Changes in history are made by those who are not afraid to be insecure”, thus, setting the pace for this film festival with a difference.
The eminent panel which consisted of renowned film makers like, Anand Patwardhan, Saeed Mirza, Leena Manimekhala, P. Baburaj, Meghnath, Deepu, Someetharan, Chandam Netraj and Sumeru Mukhopadhyay, began the discussion by expressing solidarity to Kerala journalist, K. K. Shahina. The film makers from South Asia agreed that Shahina’s case was proof of how State-sponsored forces were out to disrupt and question our freedom of expression.
The film makers shared to the gathering their experiences from working in different parts of South Asia and the harassments they had to go through. Anand Patwardhan’s constant fights, to ensure that his films see the light of the day, without a single cut were shared. “We already knew that the media was highly corporatized, being at the beck and call of those who owned it but the Radia tapes showed on TV, proved that journalists do not only gave news but also created news based on the whims and fancies of certain people”, said international and national award-winning film maker, Anand Patwardhan.
Noted film maker, Saeed Mirza spoke of the gradual reduction in genuine democratic spaces such that the majority has now started living on the fringes. They shared the sentiment that media activism today is fuelled by experiences ranging from K. K. Shahina’s to Arundhati Roy’s. “Today we have an upper-middle class republic and in that republic, dissent is not tolerated”, said noted film maker, Saeed Mirza. The ethos of this republic is based on GDP, stock market, film stars and cricket stars; the battles of the ordinary citizens find no place in their reality. The onus that befalls on the few who believe in democracy and on those who believe that we should remain a democracy, is to overcome the violations of freedom of expression through, censorship of the state, right-wing groups and market forces, so that our voices do not remain on the margins.
Someetharan, a young film maker from Sri Lanka during the discussion shared that in 2008-2009, 48 media persons were killed by unidentified assailants and yet a prominent national print media editor from India saw it as great privilege to accept an award for Excellence in Journalism from the Sri Lankan government, exposing the double standards followed within the main stream media system itself. The state-sponsored genocide that happened right next to India was totally ignored by mainstream media. The discussion followed the route of corporatized media and the falsehoods it promotes as headline news.
Well-known film maker, Leena Manimekhala also rose to the occasion to talk about her latest movie Sengadal which is now feeling the wrath of the Censorship Board. The Board in its wish to reject the film stated – ‘This movie is not fit for public screening because it degenerates the functioning of the Indian and Sri Lankan Governments’. “Even though the road towards a Board approved movie is arduous, I refuse to give up my struggle because I believe that only if the movie is approved can it get the right kind of viewership that it deserves”, said Leena. She pledged to continue this struggle until the film is approved without a single cut.
The Hitlers’ of our generation who articulate a kind of facism that sounds like democracy in a subtle manner, needs to be feared, said Aparajita from the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Democracy today is for the rich and no one is allowed to analyse it critically. “It is high time that communalism and forces of economic terrorism are challenged on the streets, which is our only option”, said Jagdish Chandra from New Socialist Alternative, Bangalore. Thoppil Shajahan’s book ‘Rashdaniyamathinte Irakal’ was released towards the end of this discussion by Anand Patwardhan.
