AN INTROSPECTION INTO THE WORLD OF FILMS

Story telling as an art developed even from the time immemorial.When tradition gave way to technology,celluloid captured reality and fantacy into itself;and we cherish a kind of voyeuristic pleasure along with it.What is it that makes one glued to the chair for a stretch of two and a half hours?Even amidst this rat-race what is it that compels one to keep aside a full week for watching a couple of films?

Films are a kind of "displaced reality"which we tend to stamp out as "the other." We identifies,equates and alienate ourselves from the celluloidic experience.In a way its a medium for us to let loose all kinds of unresolved conflicts,unadmitted desires or traumatic past;a kind of deliberate escapism.

It has been a carnival of films for a full week.Life shot from various angles;a cocktail of myth,fantacy and reality.What make films different from literary texts is the sublimity of language.The human experience transposed beyond words.Ascenario in which flesh identifies flesh and emotions intertwines with experience.

Though almost all films dealt with a myriad of stories,the underlying theme remains the same:"nuances of human relationships."Let it be Kim Ki Duk's 'Dream';Von Trier's "Anti Christ'; Almadovar's 'Broken Embraces' or Christian Petzold's 'Jerichow'.But then what makes a film different?A mere stone transforms itself into a resplendant diamond when cut in the right angles.One should know where to strike and at what point of time.The most important aspect is the way in which we approach a story.

Now another question I have in mind is:"Is there something called 'good cinema' or 'bad cinema'?'Good' attain so-called "goodness" only because there are so-called "bad" ones.What makes one howl and hoot at some films?Films like 'Nucigen House' or 'Land of Scare Crows' are indeed films...![but may be beyond my comprehension level!].Why do certain films fail to communicate?

Penek's films has been a bit off the tangent and each of them were unique in its own ways.'Nymph' is aright mix of fantacy and reality;the film also excels in its technical innovation to set the right mood.

Other films like 'Water Lillies','Fish Child','A Vision','Shirin' etc rendered a visual feast to the audience.Among competition films,'The Absence' has been a traumatic experience...a wild mix of violence and melodrama.Turkish films 'There' strikes a different note.The film is an enquiry into the undercurrents in human relationships.'True noon','Fishing Platform','Masangeles','Road To Confluence' are other films in this section.

Now after watching all these films the question arises:"why do we watch films?"
Life is a mystery of relationships.A mystery which remains mysterious;refuses to reveal .Science fails to explain human relationships,bonds and uncertainties.So we search for it in Art,literary texts and of course, in films.It delves deep into the psyche of human beings and expose a maze of complexities.

Waiting for another IFFK;to fly off into a world of mystery and experience;to identify,to enjoy and to alienate.