Take care India, says Rock Demers

World renowned children’s filmmaker Rock Demers, who has contributed hugely to the development of Canadian films, is in town for the ongoing ICFFI as one of its jury members. We catch up with the Canadian filmmaker who is back in the city after more than a decade.
“I am coming back to Hyderabad after 12 years and it has changed a lot,” he says, recalling the last time he was here for an earlier edition of International Children’s Film Festival.Rock shares a special connection with India. He founded a film distribution firm, Faroun Films, in 1965. “The first film I picked up for distribution was an Indian film titled “Postman” which was based on a story written by Rabindranath Tagore,” recalls Rock. This was before he turned a producer.
There is an interesting anecdote behind what prompted him to take up film production. “It was my 15th birthday. I was reading a newspaper at home on that Saturday morning. There was an article about the growing number of kids under 17 committing suicide. I couldn’t fathom what pushed those kids to do that. It is true that life is difficult but it is still so worthwhile. It got me thinking about what I could do to convince at least a few to not to resort to suicide. After six months of introspection, I decided to start producing films that could pass on an appetite for life to these kids.”
Looking back, does the 78-year-old filmmaker think he achieved this goal? He replies, “One day I was walking on the street in Montreal and saw two kids with beads and piercings coming towards me from the other end of the street. The hugged me and told me they were still alive today because they watched my film “Summer Of The Cold” in their town and it has helped them to keep going.” That is the power of cinema.
Of the 50 films that Rock has produced in the last 18 years, 25 were children’s films. Some of his films have bagged international awards and have been adapted and screened in over 100 countries. He also produced two Indian films, one of which was a children’s film — “Little Devil” directed by Gopi Desai. “I always catch Indian films at whichever international film festival I attend because they are interesting.”
Rock admits to being particularly fond of Bengali and Malayalam films and has his own definition of a children’s film. “The main character must not be more than 12 years old. There should be no violence and the film must be as true to life and inspiring as possible.”
Rock is a big supporter of original native films and believes Hollywood has done more harm than good to world cinema. “When a country is dominated by American films, it becomes difficult for films of that country to compete with them because Hollywood flicks have the budgets and the reach. It is very important to nurture local films and make good children’s films rooted in their culture so that they can take it forward. Take care India,” he signs off.