A non-stop show, a non-stop audience

By Lakshmi Balakrishnan

NEW DELHI, MARCH 3. If places are like people who tell tales, and films the best way of narrating those tales, film festivals have come to be a link that countries across the globe are increasingly banking on to forge new bonds between their peoples. And Delhi by virtue of being the national Capital gets a lion's share of the cine exchange programmes. Of course for a city that is rated by many as ``the second worst after Mumbai'' for hosting such festivals, the share is bigger than what it deserves, quip officials of the Directorate of Film Festivals here.

``Since films are the main source of entertainment here, it only seems natural to use them as a cultural bridge, '' says Ms. Aruna George who has been associated with Max Mueller Bhavan for many years.

Apart from countries like Germany, France, Italy and Norway which hold regular festivals here, even smaller ones like Tunisia and Iceland have now begun showcasing their films. French and Polish films, say Directorate of Film Festivals officials, still remain a favourite with the Delhi audience, which not surprisingly has a very low share of regular cinemagoers, with most of those attending such shows being from the embassies or students of cinema.

Cinema, most embassies say, is a strong medium to spread awareness about one's country. ``For countries like Colombia that don't have big distribution networks, these festivals are ideal,'' says Colombian film director Luis Alfredo Sanchez whose films will be screened at the Colombian festival being held here this coming week.

If Rajnikant could make people laugh their way through a film set in an unfamiliar place like Japan, why can't the Japanese achieve the same in India? ``We wanted to change the general perception here that the Japanese are grim and serious. Most Indians think that all Japanese can think of is work. No one knows how a Japanese likes to relax or about the lighter side of Japanese life,'' says the Director of Japan Foundation, Mr. Tadashi Ogawa. It was with this in mind that last year's Japanese festival here was inaugurated with the romantic comedy ``Shall We Dance''. Japan Foundation now intends to make the film festival an annual event.

The selection of movies for the festivals is done by the embassies. The right mix of the latest and the best in terms of popularity and critical acclaim is what most countries go in for. ``The idea is to have a bit of everything,'' says Mr. Laurent de Gaulle of the French Embassy.

But the low interest shown generally in such cinema is a worrying factor. Rues one official of the Directorate of Film Festivals: ``Not only are there very few people who understand and appreciate such cinema, but our own inability to promote such ventures limits them to one circle of cinephiles, thereby defeating the very purpose for which such festivals are organised.''

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