SHILLONG: Onaatah – of the Earth the national Award winning movie from Meghalaya was recently screened at the Festival des Cinémas Indiens de Toulousee in France. The film went on to win the Audience Award and was warmly accepted both by the audience and critics.
The film was represented in Toulouse by the director of Onaatah, Pradip Kurbah. When this reporter caught up with Kurbah he said he was overwhelmed by the response of the audience.
Kurbah whose film Onaatah has also been screened in different film festivals in the country and abroad said that his idea of making the film was to sensitise society on the lasting impact of rape on a women’s psyche.
“The perpetrators of rape may be in prison, but the woman who is raped will remain a lifetime victim in the eyes of society,” Kurbah said and this is a reality that I would like to help change as a director.
Writing on the film, French film critic Jean luc Bockman said, “Onaatah needs an environment where inter-aid prevails on labels. With this film, Pradip Kurbah also imagines an idealistic society. Shocked by the time of the court proceedings in India in the face of these crimes, he wanted to demonstrate how things should happen. Although the trial is long, it ends in favor of the young nurse. Because that’s what should happen! But above all, he wanted to focus on the story of a particular woman who struggles to regain her life and not on a satire of the Indian justice system.”
Bockman adds further, “Onaatah- Of the Earth expresses the emotions of the protagonists with finesse; emotions that resonate in us. The film is the opposite of the big Indian blockbusters, wanting to be more honest and human. The script is wonderfully written, sometimes bringing genuine reflections on the society in which Onaatah lives. The realization is simple, but natural and effective. Khasi landscapes and culture are also perfectly framed through the filmmaker’s camera, offering us a broad overview of what is happening in this region of India.’
People at the screening also said that the richness of Meghalaya really did remind them of Scotland. Also, the depiction of Christianity in the film was appreciated here.
Frederique Bianchi, the person behind the Toulouse Indian Film Festival said, “We screened a film from North East India in Festival des Cinémas Indiens de Toulouse for the very first time. And even 4 days after the screening, people came up to me and asked if it was possible to screen it at least once more. They loved it a lot and expressed the same to the director.”
“Onaatah is not only about victims of rape. Onaatah has something universal and deeply humanist (philosophically speaking)”, Bianchi added.
Éric Bouchard who has been following this festival since 2015, praised the film and said, ‘it was good to not have to see the rape’. Another viewer Joséphine Cathala said, ‘the film is very positive and soothing, pacifying’.
Another viewer, Kattaline said, ‘I was overwhelmed by Onaatah and the smartness of the direction, so much so that I couldn’t speak with Pradip after the screening. The human bond is more helpful for survival. Best wishes.”
The viewers also said there was something special and precious in the relation between men and women (which we attribute to this matrilineal culture).
(With Inputs from Élodie Hamidovic, French web magazine Bolly & Co)
