Asian Film Festival Revisited - 1

The Asian Film Festival was held in Pune from 1st to 8th November 2007. A confluence of the best from Asian cinema was experienced here. I saw films that don't entertain, but literally touch lives. Some exclusive films from Japan, China, Israel, Iran, Taiwan, Thailand, Srilanka, Korea, Bhutan, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan were screened.

With subjects scrutinizing depths of humanity, it was a great trip for those who know 'life' itself, ultimately is a movie.

I could watch only a few of them, but senior citizens from Pune, retired and chilling in life, flocked the multiplex with a competition within themselves as, 'How many can you watch in a day!?'. They were seen with nicely packed lunch boxes and thermoses full of tea.

Out of around 70 movies, I saw only some , but they've made a great impact. To tell you about a few:

Opening film:
Shaere Zobale-ha (Poet of The Wastes)
Director: Mohammad Ahmadi
Screenplay: Mohsin Makhmalbaf
Cast: Saber Abbar, Mohammad Eskandari, Leila Hatami, Farzin Mohades
Language: Persian

The story of a street worker, who is one of the 3000 employed by the government for cleaning streets and waste management. He was amongst Iran's 4 million jobless first, till he is selected for the job after answering Kepler's laws, clearing a physical test, and failing a very interesting political test:

interviewer : are you a leftist or a rightist?
Saber: sometimes I am a leftist and sometimes a rightist
interviewer: are you a leftist or a rightist?
Saber: well sir I can't really say, what is left today is right tomorrow and what is right today is left tomorrow and it becomes right again the day after. I guess I am none.
interviewer: well..you fail the test. we want someone who knows what he is, to be our street cleaner.

A very lucid story about this man Saber, who collects garbage and discovers life of the neighborhood.

The film is like directed in a way as if the director has a palette of colors and he wished to draw Saber's life on screen. Its so well-made that you'll think about it for hours after watching it.

One of the garbage bags is that of a celebrated poet, an old man who dumps his rough work(on his next book of poems) in the garbage bag everyday. Saber collects them and reads them. One day Saber does not find the poet's garbage bag and he calls out the poet

Saber: Mr. Poet, I don't see your garbage bag
Poet: I did keep it there an hour ago.
Saber: well sir, it is not there
Poet: I guess somebody took it
Saber: sir, you have to be careful, there are thieves around
Poet: but it is just a garbage bag
Saber: no sir, it is a garbage bag of a poet, there is dignity even in the garbage of a poet

The poet is impressed. Saber tells him he read all his poems and even recites one right there. The poet is really impressed.

Poet: why do you like poetry so much?
Saber: I like it so much that I want to be a poet. May be you can give me some lessons.
Poet: no, you have to do it yourself.
Saber: but sir I really don't know how.
Poet: don't rush it. I once tried to rush a cocoon into a butterfly. I warmed it up and all I got was a dead butterfly.

Then is a beautifully captured love story of Saber falling in love at first sight with a lonely, bankrupt Muslim girl. Saber finds torn pieces of letters written to her brother in US, about her visa getting rejected again and again.

He poses as a poet and sends her the poet's poems as if they were his own.

The film earned a well-deserved applause.