Fostering a vibrant film culture in Auroville

Auroville recently hosted its sixth film festival, which included a heady mix of local and international films. Over five nights, the Town Hall area was abuzz with indoor and outdoor screenings, food stalls and live music, as people imbibed the opportunity to soak up films and to participate in film-related discussions. As one of the Auroville judges in the category of ‘Films that develop the theme of human unity’, I relished this injection of creative energy into the community’s film culture. 

As the largest and most professionally-executed Auroville film festival since its inception, the 2020 festival attracted hundreds of viewers, and included local and international filmmakers. “I felt it jumped up a notch from our previous film festivals,” says Krishna, one of the organisers, who credited this year’s success to “completely committed” and skilled volunteers, who came on board in time to do “a very good job and to lift it up.”

When the film festival began in 2009, it was a modest affair that only included films made in and about Auroville. The subsequent festival introduced the category of international films that develop the theme of ‘human unity’.  Held biennially, the festival has grown exponentially, and this year’s festival screened approximately 136 films across four categories over five days. 

The external judges – who came from Delhi and Pondicherry – commented on the festival’s evolution over the last decade, as well as its rather unique features. Returning judge Aanchal Kapur, from the Kriti Film Club in Delhi, proclaimed that the festival was one, “that has both arrived, and is still a work in progress.” She pointed to an ongoing healthy film viewing culture in Auroville, where Aurovilians have the “luxury” of being able to watch films in their own theatre, Cinema Paradiso. “You can go out every night into a community space and watch films, for free. So there is the opportunity for a huge consumption of issue-based and cinematic content in Auroville.”  Suman Kittur, a filmmaker from Karnataka who now lives in Pondicherry, pointed to the diverse composition of Auroville’s audiences: “Here, I see German, African, American people watching, and language is no barrier. Everyone reacts much the same. That’s the beauty of cinema.”  

Films relating to Auroville and the bioregion

At Auroville’s first film festival in 2009, all the films in the category of films made about Auroville were made by non-Aurovilians.  Over the last ten years, there’s been a sizeable influx of young filmmakers joining Auroville. These days, most of the films in the ‘about Auroville’ category are made by community members. “It shows how a vibrant cultural atmosphere in a city can really draw in talented people who want to be part of that city and have stories to tell,” says Krishna. “This culture then grows, and pushes and changes things in certain ways. We’re in the process of developing a strong internal voice – we’re saying what we’re doing and why it’s important to the world.” 

This trend has gone hand-in-hand with a growing film culture in Pondicherry and the bioregion. Krishna highlights the connection between the two, suggesting that the film festivals conducted by Auroville and Pondicherry, as well as the broader values that emanate from Auroville and the Ashram, have prompted a number of filmmakers to establish themselves in the region. “You have this force of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo, which exists throughout the whole Pondy and Auroville region. These kinds of values and dreams draw a lot of people who want to live in the area and live in a certain way. So we are receiving the cinematic offerings of people around us who express that force in some way.”

Two of the 2020 festival judges, Anushka Meenakshi and Suman Kittur, are filmmakers who have migrated to the region, as well as Earthling Koushalya, who won an award in the Auroville category (for the feature drama Ashvamitra). “There is something here that’s attracting filmmakers, god bless, and they’re coming in droves,” says Krishna. “They have moved to this area in order to make a different kind of cinema and to live in a different kind of world.” 

The quality of films being made by Aurovilian filmmakers is also “a lot more sophisticated” than previously, suggests Krishna. This can perhaps be linked to Kino, a filmmaking initiative that’s been taking place in Auroville for the last two years, as well as filmmaking courses and apprenticeships now offered in Auroville. “This shows how there’s a culture growing,” says Krishna, “not only of watching films, but people wanting to learn more about how to make them. It also makes a difference when you can show your film at a small screening [the monthly Kino screening sessions in Auroville].” 

The judges of the three categories of Auroville films – Suman, Anushka, Aanchal – stressed that the films they were looking to award had to have meaning within the context of Auroville.  “We were definitely not looking for films that had fantastic production values, which in some festivals get overwhelmingly favoured,” said Anushka, “but because this is the Auroville film festival, we looked for what meaning the film has.” This resulted in a spread of awards across a range of topics. The student films receiving awards addressed topics such as the unsettling effects of social media, interpersonal relations, and food waste. Awarded films in the adult categories ranged from the Tamil-French community of Pondicherry (Two Flags), to daily life in Auroville (various films).  

All three judges agreed that they instantly “jumped” to the feature-length Tamil film Ashvamitra as the winner of the Cinema Paradiso award, due to the strength of the script and performances, as well as its “sensitive portrayal of human relationships, care and support for mental health experiences”. Aurovilian Christoph Pohl’s documentary about Auroville’s forests – Ever Slow Green – was awarded the Wisdom Award. “I actually felt that I was going through the forest cover,” says judge Aanchal, about the slow-motion film. “The way nature was actually speaking to us, it really affected us. I felt that it gave me a very, very beautiful insight into the journeys of all those pioneering individuals who have transformed Auroville. It showed that when they came to this land, they applied wisdom to make Auroville happen. Wisdom is not only what’s given; it’s also inherent. For me, Ever Slow Green had that feel to it.” 

Films that develop the theme of human unity

In seeking films for the international category that foreground “oneness in consciousness”, the festival aims to create awareness of human unity on a wide scale, according to Krishna. Over the last ten years, the selection of human unity films has improved dramatically, and the 35 films this year highlighted this theme in a more “concerted and directed” way.  

As the ‘human unity’ international category also includes films from other parts of India, a key person who assisted in securing high-quality films for this category was Aanchal Kapur, from the Kriti Film Club in Delhi, who was one of this year’s judges of the Auroville category of films. Aanchal’s instincts, along with her knowledge of the Indian independent cinema scene, enables her to recommend and acquire films that strongly align with the theme.  “She really knows what we’re looking for,” says Krishna, “so it’s really helpful for us. Four of her suggestions won awards in our festival this year.”  These films were the Hindi drama Turup by Ektara Collective, the documentary Abu by Pakistani-Canadian director Arshad Khan, Shabnam Sukhdev’s documentary Earth Crusader about architect Didi Contractor, and the documentary Two Flags, about the French-Tamil community in Pondicherry by Pankaj Rishi Kumar.

Also notable this year was the inclusion of high-budget arthouse films from Europe. These films were sourced through an existing connection between festival staff and the EU delegation that holds the European film festival in India. Many of these films were “intense” according to Krishna (two being set in war-time prison camps), with high production values. Of these, the gritty feature-length documentary #Female Pleasure by Swiss filmmaker Barbara Miller, won the Jury Award, which was accepted at the festival by the visiting Swiss Deputy Consul-General. 

Audiences also appreciated the Q&A sessions with filmmakers, such as with locally-based filmmakers Anushka Meenakshi and Iswar Srikumar, whose documentary film Up Down & Sideways celebrates the unique polyphonic song  culture of rice cultivators in Nagaland, and which won the Cinema Paradiso award. Also appreciated was a skype interaction with Canada-based filmmaker Arshad Khan, co-winner of the Jury Award for his documentary film Abu, a highly personal film about growing up in Pakistan and coming out as a gay man.  

“I’ve been impressed with the quality of discussion, where there has been space for it,” says Anushka. “It would be lovely to have more of these opportunities. There is a lot to talk about, and there are enough people who want to engage in the conversation.” Aanchal – an experienced film discussant – agrees. “Watching a film in Cinema Paradiso is different from watching Netflix. Aurovilians are perhaps somewhat isolated from the possibility of local, national and international discourse around certain socially relevant subjects. It’s important to have those conversations. Even a volunteer can open up the Q&A. The conversation doesn’t need to always be from audience to the filmmakers, but the discussion can also be within the audience, among people. That’s what the format of collective film watching should offer. It’s important to consider the value you’re generating, in terms of public opinion making, public discourse, actions, changes in behaviours and attitudes, and politics.”

Fostering a vibrant film culture on a tiny budget

Aurovilian judge Kati pointed to the value of “connection and exchange” – from the daily lunches shared by the six judges from the two juries, to the skype interactions with film directors – and proposed that the festival could facilitate more interaction between audience and filmmakers in the future. Elaine, another Auroville judge, emphasised the “positive experience” of seeing the “political hub” of the Town Hall turned into a “cultural hub with vibrant energy and culturally rich films” during the festival.  She pointed to the success of combining film viewing with live bands and a food festival which changed the culinary theme each night to include African, European, South Indian and North Indian cuisine. 

While the scope of the Auroville film festival has increased, it is somehow achieved on the shoestring budget of Rs 55,000, which is cobbled together from various sources. It manages to thrive due to a large amount of in-kind support and volunteer labour. Thanks to tech-savvy volunteers, the festival utilised social media more actively this year to communicate with audiences and filmmakers. The visiting judges point to this volunteer spirit and strong resources as a key reason behind the festival’s success. “One take-away for me is the re-affirmation that volunteerism works to create collective events,” says Aanchal.  “Because I’m running Kriti Film Club [in Delhi] completely with volunteers. In Auroville, you don’t have money, but there’s access to infrastructure and facilities here. A ripple is created and people get excited and give energy to that. I’ve been screening films on zero budget for 20 years! If I had a space like Cinema Paradiso, I’do this  365 days of the year!” “We talk about how to make films on zero budget,” says Suman, “and this is a good example of how to have a film festival on an almost zero budget!” 

The visiting judges also point to the new friendships at the festival, with Auroville’s three women judges, and the various filmmakers present. Anushka points to the emergence of new projects discussed at the festival, that require long durations to bring to fruition. “That’s inspiring, seeing a lot of people who are willing to work with dedication over long time frames on things that have slow processes.” She also stresses the new connections she made at the festival, and how local filmmakers such as herself “can add to the community, without necessarily being part of it.” Suman points to “the commitment and discipline” of such filmmakers, as well as the uniqueness of the festival’s human unity theme. “It was fantastic! Aurovilians make films together, watch them together. So this film festival gave me a lot of insight into what we can do.” 

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