43rd IFFI 2012 – KLIPped out
A look at the daily bulletin board on Day 4 of IFFI 2012 revealed more than just news on the films being screened. Stuck to the bottom of the board was a very err, unique, letter of protest addressed to the selection committee asking them to explain to ‘all delegates’ as to how and why the Serbian film ‘Klip’ was screened in the first place. The letter demands a permanent ban on those who selected the movie.
Incidently, even before the movie was screened at IFFI, word on the street was to stay away from it as “it’s nothing but porn.”
The film which won director Maja Milos the KNF award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2012 was described by the Rotterdam jury as “… a daring and stunning debut, portraying an abandoned Serbian post-war generation. Its talented young director succeeds in constructing a brutal portrait using the pervasive and uninhibited visual language of the cell phone generation. It shows teens obsessively identifying with video clips, glorifying sex and violence and turning themselves into victims of pornofication. Though confronting, disturbing and explicit, Clip skilfully succeeds in avoiding the trap of exploitation. We really hope a Dutch distributor will show the same courage as Maja Milos did in making this film.”
It also won the Tiger award at the same film festival, where It was applauded for being “a vigorous, rebellious, authentic, honest and revealing film using modern means to depict in a punchy way the mobile generation, who capture their lives through images recorded on their phones. An emotionally disturbed main character in a fractured family, within a broken society. Clip provokes many questions and gives no answers.” This protest from ‘all delegates’ (to many delegate’s surprise) of IFFI 2012 comes a day after Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Chairperson of the Jury for the Indian Panaroma (Features) went on record saying that they have no problem showcasing films on sensitive issues. “It’s traditionally a taboo in India but the Western world’s been making films on such issues since ages now.
We’ve only just begun to explore such topics (Homosexuality, in this case) in India. Each one has a right to live without disrespecting anyone,” he said. It’s interesting that the movie Klip was also showcased last month at the MFF, without any incident. And while we’re not making any judgements, we don’t know what’s scarier. The fact that a movie can offend the delegates on an International Film festival so bad, or that these delegates are part of affiliated to the film industry which is currently celebrating ‘new subjects’ as a paradigm shift.
Happy 100th birthday Indian Cinema.
