Documentaries can make an emotional impact: Stevan Riley

The director who is releasing his film Fire in Babylon, here two years after its UK release says that this movie is not only for the cricket fanatics but will be a delight for everyone.
His documentary revolves around the dominance of the West Indies cricket team throughout the late 1970s and 80s, which led to the rise of the West Indian cricketers becoming a conquering force.“As a youngster I used to follow cricket and was amazed by the excitement and adrenaline rush of the game. West Indies were always the underdog and there was lot of racism. They had to struggle for the identity, recognition, ambition and independence and I wanted to convey that to my audience," says Riley who took around seven months to complete the film.
It was his first visit to India, and he wanted to know more about the vibrant culture. "India is quite fascinating to west. The size of the audience is pretty huge as compared to the west. Everyone is intoxicated with the rich culture and there is an inherent curiosity to know more about the country. I think after the success of Slumdog Millionaire, the interest has grown wider among the masses," says the director.
Though the director has not been able to watch any of the Indian film, but he likes the music and dance in the film. "I think Indians can come with more independent narrative non-fiction film. Gone are the days when documentary revolved only about facts, today it has lot of drama and emotions attached to it," says he.
His earlier film Blue Blood was based on boxing. So, any obsession with the sports, "Nothing like that, it was a sheer coincidence. I am also planning to come up with an environmental piece in future."
Stevan is also coming up with another feature documentary on the history of Bond films. "The film titled Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 will coincide with the 50th anniversary of James Bond on film and will be premiered in London and New York in October. Hope people will like it," he added.
He also took a workshop in Pune during his visit where he spoke about the concept of his film, creative process and challenges faced by him during the making of the documentary. The workshop was attended by various media students.