The 18th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star has been primarily helmed and spearheaded by women. Moreover, a significant number of the 175 selected films are either made by women, feature women protagonists or tackle issues surrounding gender. Naturally, The Hindu was curious to find out the team’s thoughts and ideas on feminism in cinema and what to watch out for this year. Here’s what some of the ladies behind MAMI had to say.
Kiran Rao
Role: Festival co-chairperson
On feminist cinema : I am not sure what it means technically. But for me, it would be any cinema with strong female characters, and which has a portrayal of women that doesn’t objectify them or take away their agency.
Favourite feminist film : Thelma and Louise
Watch this year : The restored Man with a Movie Camera , which opens our new section The New Medium, which will be accompanied by live music by the Vitaly Tkachuk Quartet from Ukraine.
Anupama Chopra
Role: Festival director
On feminist cinema : I don’t see movies with a feminist gaze at all when I’m consuming them as a film lover. It’s very rare — unless it’s actively in your face — that I would be thinking specifically about the male gaze. It’s not my criteria for evaluating or judging a film. For me, it’s a very instinctive response, a gut reaction to a movie. But if something hits me, I will talk about it.
Favourite feminist film : All the way back to Mother India , that’s like the mother of so many tropes that we’ve repeated in Hindi cinema over the decades. Look at Bimal Roy’s cinema, there are so many incredible female characters — Bandini or the women in Devdas . Even the modern-day Devdas , and Dev.D, where Anurag (Kashyap) had Paro carry the mattress into the field. That’s always stayed with me.
Watch this year : I’ve been told specifically that as a festival director I can’t pick favourites!
Smriti Kiran
Role: Creative director
On feminist cinema : I don’t believe in feminist or non-feminist cinema. I believe in cinema which is good and tells a story. A good story is well fleshed out, and would never be unfair to any of its stakeholders, including the women. The moment your characters are not well fleshed out, or you’re objectifying men or women, or doing something that is manipulative, it’s not good cinema. Good cinema will always respect everyone in terms of honest portrayals of the human condition, characters, stories, and sensitivities.
Favourite feminist film :. Films like Mirch Masala , Mother India , Queen , Piku , Astitva are some of my favourites.
Watch this year : I won’t be able to talk about any of the films at the festival.
Monica Wahi
Role: Curator, Half Ticket
On feminist cinema : Films that are told through a perspective that is empowering for women and that reflect upon their struggles and aspirations with dignity. Films that redefine masculinity or challenge the traditional idea of strength and courage are as much a part of feminist cinema. I regard films that connect us to nature, to our environmental concerns, as also deeply feminist in a broader framework.
Favourite feminist film : Bhumika , Mirch Masala ... In recent times, I was deeply impressed by Masaan, not justwith Devi’s character, but also with the way that the film’s central male characters were written. Sublime, nuanced and hopeful.
Watch this year : Window Horses , an animated feature about a young poet who travels to Iran in a hijab and encounters a world quite unlike what she had imagined.
Anu Rangachar
Role: Head, international programme
On feminist cinema : We all get excited when there is a woman filmmaker. But we were so pleasantly surprised that five out of 13 films in the international competition are by women filmmakers. And they are debut films. Plus, a majority of our films have women as protagonists. I have to say, men are a very big part of our lives, and I do like them. I feel strongly for women’s issues, but we didn’t consciously look for women protagonists.
Favourite feminist film : American filmmaker Lois Weber’s 1916 film Where are My Children , which dealt with abortion and the birth control pill. I remember being blown away. I watched it at the Bologna Film Festival in Italy a few years ago. Imagine, this was made before women had voting rights in America.
Watch this year : Sand Storm . It really highlights the courage of the young protagonist and her mother. Also, there’s The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe, a documentary by an Australian filmmaker. Apart from visually stunning images, it portrays the lives of African women who have immigrated to Australia from war-torn Africa. They don’t even know that rape constitutes a crime. It’s their journey to heal and come together as a community. And Mostly Sunny , a documentary on Sunny Leone.
Bina Paul
Role: Head, Indian programme
On Feminist cinema : I think now the word feminism has become constricting; but it’s an important word to have. Feminism in cinema is feminism in life, in which you believe that gender is not a power equation, but rather a biological equation. I think the way to describe it is to see the way women are involved in cinema, right from how they are portrayed.
Favourite feminist film : It’s not about a feminist film, but filmmakers like Bangalore-based Anjali Menon have an eye that is not offensive. So you have the extreme feminist films which make a point of what it is to be a woman.
Watch this year : Lipstick Under My Burkha and Pinky Beauty Parlour , which talks about a space in a beauty parlour. It’s not necessarily made by women, but explores different issues about women.
Kalpana Nair
Role: Coordinator, international programme, and producer, Movie Mela
On feminist cinema : I feel that feminist cinema is any cinema that presents a female character or a narrative that counters what the dominant stereotype of womanhood is. It need not have a female protagonist or a female character who is flawless and heroic, but it should force us to see women as people first.
Favourite feminist film : The Piano Teacher and The Hours .
Watch this year : Things to Come and Elle . It is the year of Isabelle Huppert.
