IFFI 54, 02: IFFILMS in Competition

When recalling the films you have seen, over a month ago, the 360-page catalogue is indispensable. I will refer to it, to recap the fare which I could manage to see in the seven days I spent there IFFI is usually held from November 20 to 28, in Panaji, Goa. I always arrive 1-2 days earlier, by train, and then begin watching from the inaugural film, which is the only film screened on the first day. My visit was curtailed because of the invitation from the Red Sea Film Foundation to attend the Red Sea International Film Festivals’ third edition in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the 29^th of November to the 9^th of December. An overnight journey starting on the 27^th, would take me to Mumbai, where I would arrive on the 28^th morning. Unpacking, packing, a visit to the dentist and other chores would have to be attended to, before I headed for Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, at Sahar, to board a morning flight on Saudi Airlines.

After several pages of messages from ministers, the festival director and others, page 014-017 of the catalogue (some prefer to call it a brochure) listed the index, and page 019 listed the awards on offer, with brief descriptions. Page 021 had names and photographs of the past winners of the Lifetime achievement award winners, since1999, with Spain’s Carlos Saura being the last one, in 2022. This year, the winner was Michael Douglas, and two pages were rightly devoted to him. Then came the International Jury pages, with Shekhar Kapur as the Chairman. Wonder why has he not made any Indian/Hindustani film in twenty years, though his What Love Has Got to do with it? is a 2022 production.

In the International Competition section, we begin with Andragogy, an Indonesian entry, directed by Wregas Bhanuteja (a surname name that is so Hindu). The title would need googling for many of us, but it is simply the opposite of pedagogy, the art of teaching children. Andragogy is defined as the art or science of teaching adults or helping adults learn. In contrast to pedagogy, or the teaching of children. In the film, a small altercation between a man who breaks the queue and a middle-aged woman who scolds him, snowballs into an event of unimaginable proportions. It’s off-beat and realistic alright, but not competition material. THe Indonesian title of this film is Budi Pekerti

Rated: **

Hoffman’s Fairy Tales is a fairy tale, in that it has a Prince Charming in it. Narrated as a story within a story, it had good SFX and puppetry. It came from Tina Barkalaya, a Russian of Georgian descent. About a husband exploiting his wife in order to shirk work and remain in her apartment, Hoffman’s Fairy Tales has the leading actress doing two jobs and ending up as a high class fashion model. Good, sensitive treatment, and above par performances make it a watchable film.

The picture is of the Press Conference held by Tina Barkalaya

Rating: ** ½

Lubo spans a vast canvas in a period setting, 1939 to be exact, it traces the struggle of a busker whose wife is killed on a whim, and son is taken away. It tugs at your heart, with characters looking anything like heroes. Lubo is lured by the Swiss army, which pays decent money, and joins it, in the wake of an impending German invasion. But things go terribly wrong. Lubo does not lose hope and spares no effort to trace his missing son. It was too tragic and too long, but good cinema. Lubo is co-written and directed by Giorgio Diritti

Rating: ** ½

Measures of Men needed a director with real depth of understanding cinema, and taking on the challenge a subject like this needed. Lars Traume wrote the screenplay himself for this German entry and mounted it on the epic proportion it requires. Some wonderful performances and research that must have taken years, he turns out a film that, in 19^th century Berlin, points a clear finger at racial discrimination, based on physical characteristics of black tribes. Not your routine entertainer.

Rating: ***

One of French director Arnaud des Pallières’ earlier films was nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes. Party of Fools one is not very far behind. A woman joins a mental institution voluntarily to find her mother, who, she has reasons to believe, was falsely sent there. Set in 1894, it shows the true grit of a woman, who, in that era, suffered untold misery to rescue her mother. Adorned by an excellent performance by Mélanie Thierry. Another sentimental voyage, it is surely worth viewing. Pallières co- wrote the screenplay.

Rating: ***

A giveaway title, this Israeli film is about a man who led a double life, being married, and carrying on a secret affair with another woman. The Other Widow has a theatre group as its core, where the other lady is a costume designer, while the man is an actor. His wife is stunningly beautiful. The man suddenly dies, and this leaves the other woman grieving, but unable to express her grief openly. She attends the Shivah (a Jewish ritual, not to be confused with the Indian Hindu God Shiva) that is observed for several days after a person dies, and meets, among other relatives and friends, her lover’s wife, with whom she has a fragile, strange bonding. Emotions overflow, and the film goes about in a smooth flow, with occasional flashbacks. It is co-written and directed by Ma’ayan Rypp.

Rating: ** ½

To be continued.