Konkani cinema is feeling the Iffi effect

Back in 2004, there was much controversy when the ministry of information and broadcasting partnered with the government of Goa to relocate the International Film Festival of India (

Iffi

) to the heritage waterfront of Panaji, with a view to permanently anchor the prestigious event in that location. Other cities and states complained, with echoes that still reverberate every year. Many locals also objected that the host was being made to pay for much of the event, but was still given almost no decision-making responsibility for what counts. But the cut that hurt the most came from a daughter-in-law of Goa. The celebrated writer, researcher, casting director and advisor to many film festivals, Uma da Cunha, opposed the move on the grounds that “Goa has no cinema culture”.

Those words stung for a long time, even as many pointed out that neither the seaside playground of Cannes on the French Riviera, or the gritty port city of Busan in South Korea, was known for “cinema culture” before both developed hugely significant film festivals. It is not that the natives of Goa felt in the least insecure about exposure, or ever yield to anyone in matters of taste and sophistication. There’s also immense pride about the string of exemplars who nourished Hindi films, like the Goan jazzmen who “created the Sound of Bollywood” (in the words of cultural historian Naresh Fernandes), and the immortal “playback” singing sisters, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle. But there was, in fact, a lacuna to be acknowledged. Back in 2004,

Konkani

cinema barely existed at all.

Speed up nearly two decades into the 21st century, and those anxieties have been considerably allayed. In the last five years alone, several important Konkani movies have played around the world to win all kinds of awards. Last week, the Goa State Film Festival (GSFF) underlined that success. The top award of best film went to Nilesh Karamunge’s Mahaprayan (The Last Journey), a technical tour-de-force shot in a single take, tracking a bereaved man and his daughter as they carry the corpse of his wife (and her mother) all the way back to their village, because they cannot afford transport. Nne-year-old Aarya Ghare won best actress for her unforgettable performance.

GSFF jury member and long-time South Asia consultant to the Berlin Film Festival, Meenakshi Shedde, says, “Konkani cinema grapples with a small state population of 1.4 million, and limited screens per city, and is one of the youngest film industries in India. [But here] the Konkani film industry can emulate the Hong Kong film industry, which has similar challenges: So, it has always drawn stars from many Asian and Western nations, so the films appeal to those markets as well.” She pointed to other recent award-winners, “Juze has French funding; it was at the Karlovy Vary and Hong Kong film festivals. K Sera Sera also imported talent from outside Goa.”

Shedde says, “The consistent exposure to world class cinema during Iffi since 2004 has kick-started the Konkani film industry.” This is a constant refrain amongst the burgeoning crop of young filmmakers and cineastes of the state, that now legitimately and undeniably features a serious appetite for great world cinema, which is most easily apparent at the excellent Thursday screenings for the

Cinephiles Film Club

organised at Maquinez Palace in Panaji.

The seeds first planted at Iffi in 2004 are only starting to bear fruit. As one of Goa’s brightest young filmmakers, Suyash Naik, writes about his “Iffi education” that started his very first year at the festival when he binge-watched 42 films, “They changed my life. I couldn’t be same any more.”

The writer is a photographer and widely published columnist. Views expressed are personal.