TEAFF 22: Four films on the fifth day, including two Indian Competition films, for my two eyes

Since Fatherless had been screened on the first day, in place of ‘6 am’, another film, Asampurno, directed by Amartya Sinha, was screened. By this time, I had realised that burning the candle at both ends, i.e., waking up early and going to bed late, was taking its toll. So, I skipped Asampurno, and arrived in time, well, almost in time, to watch an Indian English film, in the International Competition section.

The Weight of Longing/Iktsuarpok (India: Omkar Bhatkar)

Bhatkar is a Playwright, Poet, Professor, Digital creator, Visiting Lecturer at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Head and co-founder at St. Andrew's Centre for Philosophy and Performing Arts and Founder of the Metamorphosis Theatre Inc. Having met him several times at events organised at the St. Andrew’s Centre, I was aware that he is a thinker and committed promoter of performing arts. Though the Centre has been dormant of late, Bhatkar used this opportunity to make his debut feature film. It is called Iktsuarpok. That itself should give you a hint of what to expect. The word comes from the Inuit language, one of the three branches of the Eskimo-Aleut language family, and means impatient, restless anticipation when waiting for someone to arrive, leading you to repeatedly look outside or check for them, a feeling with no single English equivalent. Bhatkar is midget-sized, and used to be mistaken for a student when he started lecturing. As poet and playwright, he has carved out a niche for himself as a distinctive voice that speaks in a language all his own. Before making Iktsuarpok, he made a documentary about the murals of the chapel at Santa Monica, old Goa. Iktsuarpok is an adaptation of a play by that name, written and directed by Bhatkar himself. On the surface, Iktsuarpok is about a family that comes together after years, to spend Christmas in Goa, and discover a volley of bitter-sweet emotions that will make this journey a memorable one for all of them. That it is adapted from a play is apparent within a couple of minutes of viewing. The going is heavy, and that is putting it very mildly. We are served a blend of poetry, philosophy, and a hundred quotes, from many names that might be familiar only to students of philosophy, flashed on the screen in extra-large sizes, captured in unknown, striking fonts. Add to that up to 13-minute long takes and only occasional token scenes outdoors. For highly intellectual audiences, it might be case of preaching to the converted. For those who seek help in motivational books, this might be a kind of reference tome. And for those who can sit through a 91-minute lecture, which appears to be like an interactive Q & A session between the characters, deceptively unfolding in film form, impressed by French film-makers of yore, like Eric Rohmer, among others, constantly dissecting both verbal and non-verbal communication, sentence by sentence, word by word, it could be path-breaking.

Rating: ** ½

Pinjar/The Cage (India: Rudrajit Roy)

Firstly, do not confuse the title with a Hindi film made a few decades ago. Next, realise that the title is both realistic and symbolic, addressing the plight of caged birds, and humans caged in their invisible cells. Made in the Bengali language, with a smattering of Hindustani, Pinjar interweaves four stories of characters battling their destined captivity A doctor by training, and a practicing one at that, his prescription includes a bird-catcher, a migrant bird-seller, a widowed teacher and an abused wife. The bird-catcher doubles as a religion neutral faqeer, who dons Hindu attire while going around Hindu neighbourhoods and blessing their places of business with holy smoke, and changes into a Muslim get-up, to cater to Muslim shop-keepers. Followers of both faiths part with a few currency notes in return. With all this, he is barely able to meet his needs, and provide a decent life to his almost adult daughter. The migrant is a Muslim and his religion comes in the way of renting residential accommodation where he wants to live with his Hindu wife, currently in his village, or a bigger shop, to expand his bird business, for nobody wants a Muslim tenant. The middle-aged office worker has an amazingly platonic love affair with a junior colleague at her office, her only solace from a husband who drinks and beats her. With so much to say, Roy needed all the 137 minutes the film lasts. Little is known about the illegal capturing and trading in birds and animals in the country, and Roy has taken pains to present an authentic account of their operations. Though the characters could not be more diverse, the thread that unites them is that they all live in traps. A well-chosen cast adds to the film’s merits. Four parallel stories might be a little difficult going, yet Rudrajit is not swayed towards any one at the cost of the others.

Rating: ***

Gondhal (India: Santosh Davakhar)

As a non-Maharashtrian, the first time I heard or read the word Gondhal, it was in the title of a film, Gondhalat Gondhal (1981). Later, I found some Marathi-speaking individuals using it as a word meaning chaos or confusion. I, too, used it as such, in the little Marathi I can speak. It took this 2025 film to change all that. I discovered that Gondhal primarily means confusion, disorder, or chaos, but also refers to a specific traditional folk ritual/performance, involving loud singing and a loud orchestra to boot, dancing, and storytelling, dedicated to deities like Khandoba. Davakhar chooses the ancient ritual as the backdrop of a tale about mismatched bride-grooms and the rule of fear in a village a few decades ago, when a jester would be happy to receive a tip of two rupees. A young woman is about to be married to a man she knows little about and is not impressed by what she knows. She is infatuated by the son of the Patil (Headman) of the neighbouring village, and flirts with him, but is deeply in love with Murli, a Gondhal performer. Amidst the revelry, we learn that the daughter of one of the villagers had been raped by the Patil’s son, and gave birth to a boy. She is now no more. His grandfather, who is a sort of takes care of him. The personal stories of each character are sandwiched between wild revelry and partly narrated by the grandfather, who is a sort of a sootradhaar. While the rituals and traditional customs are acted out in front of a fluid camera that makes several shots look like one take, the Gondhal will soon move towards a child’s sodomisation and three brutal murders. In a way, you are watching a documentary about the Gondhal tradition, interspersed with a doomed love story, where only three characters will emerge as the survivors: the child, his grandfather, and the chosen groom. Interestingly, the bride to be, in a role that could be termed as that of the heroine, comes out as a dark grey, manipulative character. A good example of a purely local subject captivating national audiences that might even capture the imagination of international viewers.

Rating: *** ½

Meet writer-producer-director Erke Dzhumakmatova, a Spcial Invitee, who was in coversataion with Festival Director Santosh Pathare. 

What are the find of film-related and other social issues appeal to this woman of varied talents? Drama, Thriller, Animation, Fantasy/Science Fiction and Historical Drama, Art/Experimental, Documentary, New Distribution Models, VOD, Philosophy, Women Empowerment, Low Budget, Human Rights, and Drama Series. 

Erke Dzhumakmatova is a prominent Kyrgyz producer, screenwriter, and cultural expert with over 25 years of experience in the film industries of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. She is the founder and head of Studio Oymo and a driving force behind numerous international co-productions, regional initiatives, and development programs.

Erke's film Beyond, made in 2013, was a thriller, which she co-produced, co-

wrote and co-directed.

A Berlinale Talent (2014) and alumna of B’EST, EAVE, Produire au Sud (Productions of the South), and other renowned international labs, 48 year-old Erke is also the Vice Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Chairwoman of the Kyrgyz Association of Film Producers, since July 2021. In 2022, as part of the project of UNESCO Almaty, Erke, head of OYMO Studio and researcher, conducted a comprehensive study, examining the state of affairs in her country’s creative industries, including film, music, and cultural events industries.

She is an expert and consultant for UNESCO, and serves on the National Council on Cinematography of Kyrgyzstan. She began working in films in 1996. One of her earliest films was Lovely Kyrgyzstan (Almanac), 2012. Other credits include her most recent film, Kurak (2025), an international co-production involving Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland, France, Serbia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy. Her previous feature, The Lake (2020), about

a legend of human souls taking the form of fishes, co-written and  co-produced by Erke, premiered at the Shanghai IFF, was longlisted for the Golden Globe, and screened at major festivals in the US, UK, Spain, and Russia. As a leader in regional collaboration and industry development, Erke curates the CAF Pitch at Bishkek (the capital and largest city in Kyrgyzstan) IFF, supporting new voices in Central Asia. She is widely recognised for her contributions to cultural policy and creative industries in the region.

Erke, with KIran Shantaram

Erke revealed that the number of people working in creative industries in Kyrgyzstan is very small. It was around 13,000 in two surveys, conducted in 2015 and 2019 respectively. Kyrgyzstan has a population of 7.3 million, so it would appear that there would be the need for more persons to be employed in creative industries, to increase productivity.

Asked whether Indian films are popular in Kyrgyzstan, she repleid that they were very popular. But added, "Whenever we watch Indian films, we cry a lot," which made the audience wonder whether only India fims with sadness and sorrow reach Kyrgyzstan. That would be strange, because most of the major Hinustani films in the last 15 years have been action or super-hero or mythology or war oreinted. Answering another question, she said that her favourite song from an Indian movie was 'Hanste hanste, kat jayen rastey', from Khoon Bhari Maang, picturised on Rekha and Rakesh Roshan