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A few days ago I was chatting online with a friend of mine about an upcoming project of hers for an NGO she works and in the midst of our banter she happened to mention an documentary film festival that they organize each year. She went on to ask whether I would be interested to do programming for it. Now I love documentaries as much as I love burritos (a lot) and I was flattered but also totally bemused.

The reason being that I am the the polar opposite of somebody who would be the poster boy for such a job. For starters you would never associate me with being deep / intellectual and I while I do possess a social conscience, I am totally not interested in politics. I’ve never voted and will never do so. I only read the sports and entertainment section of the newspapers and most importantly I have a very pronounced Rabelaisian sense of humor which harks back to my childhood.

Add that to Arian traits of restlessness and a tremendously opinionated mindset it’s clear I would be a bull in a china shop. Having said all of that I would have still loved to do it. So I told my friend that I would be honored but confessed why should she even consider me for such a gig.
She kinda avoided the issue but my guess is that perhaps I would be a counter-balance from the khadi jhola brigade who breathe revolution instead of oxygen and think looking mildly presentable is a cardinal sin.

I’m not hopeful of getting the gig coz my tolerance and attention levels are notoriously low
when I’m bored and these guys really bore me. Make no mistake they do a lot of good and arevery committed to their causes but that just ain’t my scene.

So anyways all of this got me thinking and what if I did get the opportunity of being the sole decider of a film festival much like Tarantino’s and Ebert’s fests. A far-fetched idea no doubt but if I had ever let the logical side of my brain take over right now I would have been a lawyer.

So I came up with the playlist of my own socially aware and relevant festival. Now I’m not a complete debauch and there are a lot of issues I care very deeply about one way or another.
They include anti-imperialism, environmentalism, religious intolerance, genocide, child abuse, freedom and the rights of women amongst other things. I’m not so much interested in the political implications as much as the sociological ones.

So here’s what I came up with.

a) It would run for a week with a daily showing of 5 films which would include both narrative and documentaries

b) Each night there would be a closing concert by one of my fav bands / musicians who would sing one song which touched issues I care about.

c) I would limit myself to films released within the past 5 years and restrict myself to films I had already seen and had made a huge impression on me. By huge impression these films forced me to think about and rethink my existing opinions.

I feel I shouldn’t write how I perceived the films and leave the interpretation upto the viewer so I will just paste the imdb synopsis.

Day 1

Ghosts of Citi Soleil (2006 / Haiti)

In the slum of Cité Soleil, President Aristide’s most loyal supporters were ruling as kings. The five major gang leaders were controlling heavily armed young men; the Chiméres. The Secret army of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. “Ghosts of Cité Soleil” is a film about Billy and Haitian 2pac. Two brothers. Gang Leaders of the

Mondays in the Sun (2002 / Spain)

2001: men without jobs, in the port city of Vigo. Six men worked in a shipyard, now shuttered. They pass the time at La Naval, a bar opened by one of them after the yard closed. They face their futures in makeshift ways.

Favela Rising (2005 / Brazil)

A man emerges from the slums of Rio to lead the nonviolent cultural movement known as Afro-reggae.

Stevie (2002 / USA)

In 1995 Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) returned to rural Southern Illinois to reconnect with Stevie Fielding, a troubled young boy he had been an ‘Advocate Big Brother’ to ten years earlier. He began a film, a search, to discover not only what had happened to Stevie over the past ten years but to understand the forces that had shaped his entire life.

Deliver us from Evil (2006 / USA)

Moving from one parish to another in Northern California during the 1970s, Father Oliver O’Grady quickly won each congregation’s trust and respect. Unbeknownst to them, O’Grady was a dangerously active pedophile that Church hierarchy, aware of his predilection, had harbored for over 30 years, allowing him to abuse countless children. Juxtaposing an extended, deeply unsettling interview with O’Grady himself with the tragic stories of his victims, filmmaker Amy Berg bravely exposes the deep corruption of the Catholic Church and the troubled mind of the man they sheltered

Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1ZLqrEpXI

Day 2

The Devil Came on Horseback (2007 / Darfur)

A documentary that exposes the genocide raging in Darfur, Sudan as seen through the eyes of a former U.S. marine who returns home to make the story public

Mountain Patrol (2004 / Tibet)

A moving true story about volunteers protecting antelope against poachers in the severe mountains of Tibet.

Paradise Now (2005 / Palestine)

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Manufactured Landscapes (2006 / Earth)

Photographer Edward Burtynsky travels the world observing changes in landscapes due to industrial work and manufacturing.

Sometimes in April (2005 / Rwanda)

Rwandan Genocide

Linkin Park - What I’ve Done

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgycukafqQ

Day 3

When the Leeves Broke (2006 / USA)

An examination of the U.S. government’s role and its response to Hurricane Katrina.

Amu (2005 / India)

Amu is the story of Kaju, a twenty-one-year-old Indian American woman who returns to India to visit her family and discover the place where she was born. The film takes a dark turn as Kaju stumbles against secrets and lies from her past. A horrifying genocide that took place twenty years ago turns out to hold the key to her mysterious origins.

Young @Heart (2007 / USA)

A story based on the Young at Heart Chorus, a group of senior citizens who performing contemporary and classic rock and pop songs.

Road to Guantanamo (2006/ Afghanistan)

Part drama, part documentary, The Road to Guantánamo focuses on the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims who were held in Guantanamo Bay for two years until they were released without charge.

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee (2007 / USA)

A chronicle of how American Indians were displaced as the U.S. expanded west.

Coldplay - Fix You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBEYyHGbwto&feature=related

Day 4

True North (2006 / UK)

The crew of a bankrupt Scottish trawler turn to smuggling illegal immigrants over the stormy waters of the North Sea

Nobody Knows (2004 / Japan)

Four siblings live happily with their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo. The children all have different fathers and have never been to school. The very existence of three of them has been hidden from the landlord. One day, the mother leaves behind a little money and a note, charging her oldest boy to look after the others. And so begins the children’s odyssey, a journey nobody knows.

The Fog of War (2003 / USA)

A film about the former US Secretary of Defense and the various difficult lessons he learned about the nature and conduct of modern war.

Children of Men (2006 / UK)

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child’s birth may help scientists save the future of humankind

The Constant Gardener (2005 / Africa)

A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife’s murder, big business, and corporate corruption

John Williams - Dry your tears Africa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqz32AwIKY4

Day 5

All the Invisible Children (2005 / Earth)

Seven short films - each one focused on the plight of a different child protagonist

Munich (2005 / Israel)

Based on the true story of the Black September aftermath, about the five men chosen to eliminate the ones responsible for that fateful day.

Be Quiet (Short) (2006 / Palestine)

A simple car trip is beset by politically charged tension and a militarized reality.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006 / Ireland)

A sympathetic look at Republicans in early 20th century Ireland, and two brothers who are torn apart by anti-Brit rebellion.

My Flesh and Blood (2003 / USA)

Documentary following Susan Tom of Fairfield, California and her 11 adopted special needs children.

U2 - The Wanderer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTTFeObqKTM

Day 6

Taare Zameen Par (2007 / India)

Every child is special.

The Lives of Others (2006 / Germany)

In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives

Whalerider (2002 / New Zealand)

A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.

Fateless (2005 / Hungary)

14-year-old György’s life is torn apart in World War II Hungary as he is sent to a concentration camp where he is forced to become a man, and learns to find happiness in the midst of hatred, and what it really means to be Jewish.

Mysterious Skin (2004 / USA)

A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth

Soul Asylum - Runaway Train

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psP1bKKEtHg

To be continued on popular demand (ie if people buy tickets else I’ll just head down to the beach on the weekend).