This year, I have been fortunate to watch more documentaries
and films out of the mainstream genre, and here’s one. The short film “Agli
Baar” was meant to be an Independence Day release, and it is an online release.
The short film is loosely based on the famous poem “First
they came…” by Martin Niemoller. The poem goes,
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.
The short film is set in the context of slum demolitions and addresses religious violence as well. It is provocative, and can make for a great in-person discussion. All of 7 minutes, do watch it.
The short film is set in the context of slum demolitions and addresses religious violence as well. It is provocative, and can make for a great in-person discussion. All of 7 minutes, do watch it.
4 comments:
Saw it over the weekend. For a person who's used to having things wrapped up in a neat package or atleast some kind of a closure, I kinda felt like I was left hanging.. might be the director's way of making me think..
Viju, :) Lovely to hear from you. The ending and the film itself is open to interpretation. Is the religious angle relevant to the slum setting, for instance? Why does some violence affect us more than the others? Lots to talk about :)
In most cases if it is demolishing a slum then Hindi Cinema has no religious bias, they just show a greedy business man and huge machines.. In this case, the first scene gave me a feeling of riot, then the activist got me confused.
I believe the violence that tends to affect us most are those in which we develop an empathy towards the victim.. In my case, initially, when I used to read about some crime against children (before I became a dad), just elicited a moment's sympathy and then I move on to the next news item.. now a days, you kind of superimpose your kid's image and then its starts hurting a bit more.
Viju, I got the impression that the short film was dealing with more than one issue. I felt it was a combination of slum demolition + communal riots, and the activists were linked to the former issue. The film also showed different types of activists - the girl was more involved in the issue when compared to the boy.
Apart from varying levels of empathy in individuals, the way violence is depicted makes a difference in how one perceives victims in cases where one hasn't experienced that kind of violence personally, or is unlikely to experience that form of violence. Also, having experienced that form of violence can numb empathy at times.
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