The Malayalam facing the challenges of a feminist cinema in Kerala
The competitive sections of the International Film Festival of Kerala highlighted its 29th edition for having many openly feminist titles on its programming. Of these, the Malayalam films stood out. Malayalam, the official language of the State of Kerala, is the mother tongue of some 35 million people. Mayalayam language cinema won several awards. A film in the International section was the most crucial feature (in the programmation), the bluntly titled Feminist Fathima, directed by Fasil Muhammed, making its feature debut. With a simple premise and candid storytelling peppered with humor, Muhammed claims a cinema that could be considered the spiritual child of two European filmmakers. On the one hand, Ken Loach and his politically engaged outlook, and on the other, Aki Kaurismäki and his humanist and witty perspective. It was, therefore, easy for this film to convince both juries and the audience. Feminist Fatima is an apparently naïve proposal, but effective in a critical process of dominant systems. The structures that maintain religion and those that support the family are subject to scrutiny without added severity or drama. Becoming the setting of criticisms of patriarchy and religious doctrines seeking to take over social control, ‘Feminist Fathim’ is a woman’s empowerment journey towards emancipation.
When Fathima, the main character of Feminist Fathima, becomes aware of her situation and takes control of her life, there’s no going back. She is under the control of a husband who does not even allow her to buy a new mattress, which is a basic need for her well-being. As the story arc is an itinerary of economic independence and personal transformation, there are few surprises. Anyway, the title already announces it. But it is precisely this intention of being explicit that emphasizes the film. The film may be the seed that awakens consciousness in places where feminism has not yet been tainted and where there is enormous work to do. The opportunity to start almost from scratch in certain societies where religious fundamentalism has wreaked havoc is also an opportunity to articulate speeches and actions with the simplicity of example: no victimhood, no added drama. What Feminist Fathima does is to light the fire that makes visible the perverse customs embedded in the household and reveal the misogyny inherent in the institutionalized family model in many societies.
Alongside Feminist Fathima, and in Malayalam as well, Victoria, the debut film by Sivaranjini J is equally surprising for its simplicity. It could also be considered a feminist film but its subtlety and pretended mystery is the signs that it combines uncertainties around its positioning. These intended mysteries are very edifying to promote dialogue and let the audience be part of a plot open to interpretation. Victoria is an interesting exercise of enormous visual and metaphorical richness that does not need great scenarios or dramas to show the weight and fractures that family leave in the personal itinerary of the young generations of women in India. In the almost confining environment of a beauty parlor, women are the protagonists. There are no men on the scene. And this, itself, is a heavy directorial decision. Manhood is represented here by a rooster that the protagonist has to keep in his workplace for a few hours. The film is only 84 minutes long, mostly addressed in a closed space that can reminisce Yasujirō Ozu in his way of shooting inside confined spaces. Brilliantly directed and with a powerful handling of space and the characters’ psychology, it’s one of the great discoveries of the International Film Festival of Kerala. Victoria is a small and humble film on the surface, but massive in the intelligence that exudes into every truthful decision.
The FIPRESCI jury quickly agreed on Feminist Fathima and Victoria without much deliberation. The jury considered other titles for the international award. Still, a consensus was more challenging to reach, whereas the simplicity and forcefulness of Feminist Fathima convinced the three members of the jury. There was also no doubt about Victoria. It was a film that we praised as soon as we came out of the screening and commented on a lot because of the symbolism it uses. In addition to these films, I highlight the works in Malayalam by Shobhana Padinjhattil with Girl Friends and Cupid Saw The Star by Adhithya Baby A. T. Baby. In both of them, one must notice the risk they take in their plots. Girl Friends is the portrait of five friends in a scene where queer culture energizes the experience in the city. It is an exploration of identity that brings into focus a modernity that is unusual in Indian cinema coming to Europe, which is more focused on the reflection of tradition. Equally, Adhithya Baby A.T. Baby, in Cupid Saw The Star, is surprised by a film centered on a toxic male character whom she exposes to the audience’s scrutiny. In this way, the film reveals a face of Indian society that increasingly resembles Europe in its consumerist dynamics around desire.
By Rosana G. Alonso
Edited by Anne-Christine Loranger
Copyright FIPRESCI