'There are a lot of film clubs here'
Michal Aviad doesn’t believe in playing it safe — not even when it comes to criticising her peers.
While a majority of film-makers remain cautiously appreciative about other directors’ work, Michael has no qualms in voicing her opinion that most contemporary cinema mints money off a fixed formula of sex and violence. In fact, this was one stereotype she steered clear of while directing her part-fiction-part-factual film, ‘Invisible’, which was screened as part of the Bangalore International Film Festival.
Metrolife caught up with the candid director, who’s from Israel, to find out more about her movies and her experiences.
‘Invisible’ tells the tale of two women who meet accidentally, and soon discover that they had been raped by the same man around two decades ago. “It deals with the trauma that they suffer. Rape leaves a terrible wound that can last a lifetime — both because of the incident, and the actions of society,” explains Michal.
One thing she was very particular about during the conception of the movie was that it wouldn’t include a visual rape scene. “A lot of films have it, because sex and violence are what excite the audience. But I didn’t want that at all — I wanted to tell people that rape is a very painful experience,” she says, adding, “I was also targetting cinema that uses rape scenes in this manner.”
Michal may be in the City for a limited time, but she’s definitely squeezing as many experiences out of this as she possibly can. “One thing I really wanted to do here was to go to the temples. After all, I’ve seen plenty of churches and mosques before. I have managed to see a few temples here, but only from the outside — somehow, I always end up going at the wrong time,” she laughs.
She’s quite impressed by the enthusiasm that Bangaloreans exhibit towards cinema. “There are a lot of film clubs here, which don’t exist back in Israel. And the theatres are just full of people — although I feel that there are actually more men than women. Still, it’s nice to see that they’re interested and eager about this,” she says.
Ask her about Indian movies, and she admits that she hasn’t watched enough to understand the different cinematic genres that exist in this country. “I’ve seen a couple of Bollywood movies, and I once met Aparna Sen in Israel and invited her home. I don’t understand the different ways of film-making here, but the variety in films here is amazing,” she says.
Apart from cinema and temples, Michal’s been using her trip to the City to indulge in the local cuisine. “I love Indian food, and only eat it when I’m here. I come from a land where we eat spicy food as well. We use the same kinds of spices, except we use them differently,” she concludes.