The third edition of DOK Leipzig Lake Festival (DLLF), a four-day event held last week at Naukuchiatal, Nainital showcasing 14 long and short films in a beautiful and scenic locale stands out for more than one reason.
“The documentary filmmaking community attends festivals to win awards and pitch their end products with the motive of getting accolades, recognition and of course support for their future ventures. The focus is not on the art form and all opportunities to promote discussion on it are cut off,” says Neelima Mathur, who co-organised the DLLF with her husband, Pramod Mathur. This explains the reason for the festival being non-competitive and non-agenda driven. Besides with no parallel events held, the participants are spared of making the difficult choice among multiple ones. “With no neck-to-neck sessions it is a relaxed atmosphere ensuring cohesiveness, introspection and intellectual growth,” comments Neelima.
Former journalists, the Mathurs’ started making documentaries in the 80s and in 2000 set up a not-for-profit organization devoted to this genre of filmmaking. They zeroed on Naukuchiatal as the venue in order to develop a cultural hub away from the metros and more importantly create an avenue for locals to participatein cultural activities. One session of the festival is devoted to the promotion of local talent. “This year it was sufi singers who were sensational while last year featured two young filmmakers from Uttarakhand who were great success,” points out Neelima. This leads to inculcating a sense of belonging among the local people for the event.
Films screened during this edition included “On The Art Of War” (Luca Bellino/Silvia Luzi), Bernard Weber and Martin Schilt’s “No Business Like Show Business”, “Mama” directed by Lidiya Sheynina, Valery Rosier-directed “Silence Radio”, “Diary Of A Journey” (Piotr Stasik) and Edwin Beeler’s “The Souls – Tales Of Ghostly Encounters” among others. “The Textures Of Loss” by Pankaj Butalia and Abhilash Vijayan’s “That Elephant From The Bridge” were also part of the list.
The festival is curated by DOK Liepzig in Germany. “I provide a brief to them which reflects the trend of Indian documentary and the kind of viewing pleasures of general audience,” says Neelima.
Special Space slot in the fest allows people to exhibit their own films or the ones they have enjoyed and want to share with others. There was “Showcasing My Death, Not Yours” by Lars Barthel, Pankaj Butalia’s “Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum”, “Dammed” by Kavita Bahl and Nandan Saxena and “Tableau Noir” by Yves Yersin. Introduced last year it came into being on the basis of feedback. “We were asked as to where is the space for Indian documentary films and filmmakers? Finding it a valid point Special Space was introduced,” Neelima clarifies.
The festival has a profound effect on the audience including the first timers. “Many first time viewers get motivated to become filmmakers. Watching documentaries shot in different countries increases their knowledge making them aware of different viewpoints and inspiring them to match the competencies of the makers,” says Neelima.
The gathering generates the best on film literacy with Filmmaker Evening and Doc Debate, informal sessions, contributing to that end. Held around bonfires with no formalities these generate a warm interaction. The former featured Pankaj Butalia while the latter focused on looking at Western/Eastern European and Indian narratives.
Though this year’s funding saw through the festival, Neelima was disappointed with the audience attendance making her wonder if it is worth it. “When I broached the topic of discontinuing the event among those who were present there was vociferous protest. In fact they made us promise to give up the idea at least for the next two years,” says Neelima.
