France film festival focuses on motion pictures from Asia
By Kunang Helmi-Picard
PARIS (JP): Apart from the Nantes Festival of Three Continents with its selection of films from Asia, Africa and South America, France now boasts two film festivals focusing exclusively on Asian moving pictures, one in Vesoul and the other in Deauville.
The Festival des Cinemas d'Asie in Vesoul, a small town in northeastern France celebrated its seventh anniversary in February. This year's main theme is a homage to the arts and artists of Asia. The festival was founded in 1995 by two film lovers to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the invention of film by the Lumiere Brothers who were born nearby. Martine and Jean-Marc Therouanne decided to focus on Asian films, combining their twin passion for films and travel in Asia.
The Therouannes are seeking to associate the school teachers of Vesoul and its surroundings -- where they reside -- in the project. This low budget film festival is not only restricted to the adult public. From the festival's inception schoolchildren were also able to appreciate a large selection of films from Asia, thus widening their horizons and understanding of Asian people.
Asia, as traditionally seen from France in this case, includes all countries from the 'near' to the 'far east'.
Jean-Marc Therouanne pointed out, "we wish to demonstrate how viewing films is also a way of deferring prejudice and learning about the complex problems of the outside world."
Indonesian films
To coincide with the festival, Indonesia's ambassador to France, Dadang Sukandar and his wife, organized a photo and textile show with Jean-Claude Larere, president of the French- Indonesian Association.
The opening cocktail and topeng (mask) dance by Sugeng were highly appreciated by the public who also had the opportunity to view three Indonesian films during the weeklong festival: Telegram (1999) and The Sky is my Roof (1990) by Slamet Raharjo, together with The Poet (2000) by Garin Nugroho. The international jury of four was presided by noted French film critic Max Tessier, already familiar with contemporary Indonesian film.
As in Nantes three months ago, Iran, China and Japan again dominated the choice of 45 films with a homage to famous Japanese film director Kiju Yoshida and a Panorama of Iranian Cinema. The Iranian film Sanam directed by 34-year-old Rafi Pitts garnered the Cyclo d'Or prize awarded by the international jury, while Saroja by the Sri Lankan director Somaratne Dissanayake won the "Prize of the Audience" sponsored by the municipality of Vesoul. The "Young Jury" for the best video documentary favored Paul the Carpenter by the Palestinian director Ibrahim Khill.
Although two films that won awards were not specifically children's films, they both deal with children growing up under difficult circumstances. Another remarkable film about children growing up in pre-cultural revolution China, Thatched Memories by Xu Geng, displays a touching mixture of lyrical and realistic scenes.
Iranian Rafi Pitt's film is about Issa, a young boy who witnesses his father's death after being falsely accused of being a horse thief. He and his mother Sanam leave to live with Issa's aunt. They both seek to avenge the unjustified killing and Issa's quest ends in further tragedy. The film is characterized by superb photography in the vast spaces of rural Iran while the inevitable tragedy slowly unfolds.
Saroja of the film title is the name of the young Tamil girl found by children near the river where villagers bathe. Varuni, an eight-year-old Sinhalese girl who cannot understand Tamil takes pity on her.
Sundaram, Saroja's father, forced to join the Tiger rebels, lies wounded in the forest. Varuni's father, an idealistic primary school teacher, supports his daughter's wish to save the two Tamils from death by the army in this remote village in Sri Lanka.
The teacher's attitude leads to his family being forced out of the village after Sundaram is killed by his former fighting companions. However, Saroja, who had already lost her mother, is adopted by Varuni's parents and thus finds a new home. Here the film about Sri Lanka's ongoing civil war is recounted in an intensely emotional way, while the camera work is less eloquent. The dynamic acting of the two young girls contributes greatly to the film's power of conviction.
Garin Nugroho's black and white 83 minute-long video film The Poet (Puisi Tak Terkuburkan) attracted much attention with its unusual format. Renowned for his social documentaries and films, the young Indonesian film director skillfully employed the traditional form of oral poetry from Aceh known as didong. Filmed in seven days, the poet Ibrahim Khadir tells the tale of how he was wrongly imprisoned without trial in 1965. In October of that year he watched countless fellow prisoners being led to execution before his own release. Nugroho combines poetry with political realism in this poignant attempt to deal with Indonesia's recent past.
The Chinese film, Shadow Magic about the beginnings of film in Beijing in 1902, opened the film festival on Thursday, March 1 at Deauville which focuses on feature films from Asia. Nine films from Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, China, India and South Korea are competing to win the main prize, The Golden Lotus. Homage will be paid to veteran film directors, Sri Lankan Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries, as well as to Sung Tsun Shou from Taiwan.