Women storming their way into film festivals

Marquee events are now ensuring gender representation, and women’s films are bringing in fresh new perspectives, writes S Viswanath.

Film festivals have undergone a complete change when it comes to gender representation.
They are making ample reparations for the discriminatory practices of the past. Today, there is no film festival that does not take pride in films made by women.

Festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto Mumbai, and Goa (International Film Festival of India) are witnessing a silent revolution with women filmmakers not only being provided pride of place but also being feted for their works.

Seminars and workshops focus on how they are shaping new narratives and bringing in the “female gaze” to problems they confront.

The recently concluded Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival featured 68 films by women, a few co-directed, representing nearly 34 per cent of the 200-odd films showcased.

The story was similar at the 54th International Film Festival of India in Goa. The forthcoming International Film Festival of Kerala has a specific section – The Female Gaze – with as many as eight curated films.

‘Footprints on Water’, the debut feature by UK’s Nathalia Syam about an illegal immigrant and his marriageable daughter, ‘Houria’ by Algeria’s Mounia Meddour about an aspiring dancing talent boxed in by lack of opportunities, ‘Tiger Stripes’ by Malaysia’s Amanda Nell Eu focusing on a 12-year-old girl on the cusp of adulthood, are among the films it is showing.

At the 54th IFFI, 50-plus films among 200-odd films, were by women, constituting nearly 25%. At the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, women are in key decision-making positions including curating and programming, and are playing stellar roles.

The IFFI story is no different. Among the several sessions this year (the festival concluded on 28) one was on ‘Women and the Glass Ceiling’, in which Vidya Balan was in conversation with Vani Tripathi Tikoo. At Jio MAMI you had a session on ‘Small Victories, Bigger Challenges: Gender in Hindi Cinema,’ that focused on gender equity not only in films but also across the entire spectrum of society.

Each of the 50 films being featured in the various curated sections of IFFI told a unique story. Georgia-Russian director Tina Barkalaya’s ‘Hoffman’s Fairy Tales’ celebrated a woman caught in an exploitative marriage overcoming hurdles to come into her own. ‘The Other Widow’ by Israel’s Maayan Rypp was a dark comedy about a mourning widow.

The Georgian film ‘Citizen Saint’, by Tinatin Kajrishvili, is a satirical story about a saint whose faith is tested. The Senegal film ‘It’s Sira’ by Apolline Traore tracks a young nomadic girl who single handedly takes on ruthless terrorists.

IFFI’s coveted Festival Kaleidoscope fare featured the much feted French film ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ by the renowned Justine Triet. In it, a German writer becomes the prime suspect following the death of her husband.

Hong Kong director Ann Hui’s Elegies docu-drama focuses on the country’s prominent poets. The British film ‘How to Have Sex’ by Molly Mannin Walker revolves around a teen, the sole virgin in her group. The other British film, ‘Scrapper’ by Charlottee Regan, brings to focus the fractured relationship of a girl and her father.

Women directors are bringing individual styles, deftness of craft and a deep understanding of their problems for audiences to appreciate and empathise with.

With patriarchal barriers being dismantled, women are getting their rightful place at festivals of cinema across the world.

(The author is a senior film critic and curator)