Cinematographer Fowzia Fathima still remembers a question she was asked at the orientation programme for admission at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, sometime in the mid-90s. It upset her as much as it annoyed her, it also strengthened her resolve, made her ‘take an oath’, to become a cinematographer and stick to it.
“I was asked ‘why should we waste a seat for a woman?’ I told them if out of 1000 male students 100 may shine, how many women were getting a chance, for them to say that women would be no good?” She got her chance and ensured that she changed the perception of women students. She charted a course for those who came later, pushing herself - lugging equipment herself, shooting without a break for 24, 36 even 48 hours. Vindication came when camera attenders and light men at FTII said about her, to her juniors, that she didn’t shy away from carrying heavy equipment herself.
“At the time there were very few practising women cinematographers or technicians, maybe they moved on to other aspects of cinema from behind the camera. But today the scene is very different,” she says. Thiruvananthapuram-based Fowzia was in the city as one of the judges for the recently concluded SIGNS Short and Docu Film Festival.
A question like that is hard to imagine, however some women technicians today talk about the difficulty of getting into, what still is essentially, a male domain. Fowzia disagrees, “Why would you ‘want’ to enter such an exclusive men’s club? Create your own group, there are enough women technicians out there, have your own platform for discussions, interactions and also film production.”
The onus is therefore on women to make space for women technicians, like actor Revathy did with her directorial debut Mitr - My Friend in 2002 - making the film with an all-women team of technicians. Incidentally the film marked Fowzia’s debut as cinematographer. Until then she was assisting veteran cinematographer P. C. Sreeram.
“There are so many more trained girls in the industry today, coming from different institutions across the country. I was heading the Department of Cinematography at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata and there are talented girls... ,” she says. Today there is an Association of Indian Women Cinematographers, comprising around 50 practising members. Incidentally, the Indian Society of Cinematographers website does not list a single woman cinematographer.
It was not in the too distant past, in the mid 80s, that a woman, B.R. Vijayalakshmi cranked the camera for more than a dozen films. “There are some award-winners too,” Fowzia adds. The ‘where are the women cinematographers’ question bugs her, it is unfair to the many women working in the industry, she says. The question does not acknowledge their work.
A love of the arts and a curiosity for the technical side of things explain her interest in filming. She joined FTII after a Master’s degree from MS University, Vadodara, in art criticism. The visual arts held as much appeal for her as say ‘building an aeroplane’.
After her cinematography course she began work with P.C. Sreeram on a few films, notable among them being Mani Ratnam’s Alaipayuthey . A schooling which, she says, she was fortunate to have. She learnt a lot about the process of a cinematographer, “those were pre-digital days. The song ‘Pachai nirame...’, for instance, was such an education. There wasn’t digital colour correction technology, what one did was manipulate light and colour physically and chemically.”
Fowzia has been director of photography for 10 feature films, including Bengali ( Choker Paani ), Malayalam ( Gulumaal ), Hindi ( Kuch to Hai ), English ( In the Shadow of the Cobra ) and a number of Tamil films including Silanthi , Uyir , Ivan , Mudhal MudhalMudhal Varai (M3V); some ad films and documentaries too. She has also taught at L.V. Prasad Film & TV Academy and Srishti School of Art, Design, & Technology. She feels that she hasn’t done as much as she would have liked to, as she took a couple of sabbaticals in between. Academics, however, has been a pleasure.
In fact, post-2010, when printing labs were on their way out and digital technology making an entry, she anticipated change and began working the medium. “I was experimenting with digital media, shooting in HDV format, since 2005,even before there was software to edit. By the time technology went digital, I could ensure that the Cinematography department at SRFTI was prepared.” Gulumaal , directed by V.K. Prakash, was probably among the first Malayalam films to have been shot in the format.
She has also served on the jury of several film festivals such as the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK- preview committee), National Film Awards (2010) jury, Indian Panorama, the Kerala State Film Award Jury among others.
Being a juror is no easy task, she says. “Each work has to be assessed on a combination of criteria but cinema language is primary,” she says. Jury members of the same creative space makes judging interesting, if not then compromises would have to be made.
The inevitable question is when will she make a film, she laughs, “I will, when the time is right, and I am ready.”
