Diving into Neorealism with European Films

The European Film Festival which began with masterclasses on 15 September and movies from 17 December, concluded on 23 September with the screening of the Dutch neorealist film, White Berry.

Graced by ambassadors of the European Union, Charles Whiteley and The Kingdom of the Netherlands, Ms. Irma Van Dueren, respectively, the wrapping up event acknowledged the overwhelming response from local movie lovers and makers.

Diplomats, invited guests, members of the press, film aficionados were present.

Over the span of roughly a little more than a week, cine-lovers in the capital and outside it had the chance to taste a different variety of movies – ones that are low on AI dominated special effects but high on social drama.

Actually, the film festival opened up a parallel world to the commercial blockbuster movie scene that we have on big screens, pulling a section of people wanting a cerebral high and food for thought.

There’s one kind which whisks us into fantasy and another, that creates a link with reality, providing true reflections of society.

Of course we need the big budget movies featuring top rated stars! The need for total escapism and unvarnished thrill cannot be overestimated. Yet, when we think of European movies, it’s the touch of realism which comes to mind.

In the recently concluded European Film Festival, a joint initiative of the Delegation of the European Union in Bangladesh and the acclaimed Bangla daily ProthomAlo, the leitmotif was the ever changing faces of European society with migrant population becoming a crucial part of European life.

The movies explored issues like autism, bullying, the significance of social inclusion, scourge of discrimination plus the importance of providing encouragement to sporting prowess in children.

In short, these films looked atexistence with all its imperfections plus banality, celebrated the undaunted spirt to overcome society’s flaws, allowing people from different backgrounds and abilities to cherish the best in humans.

Several of the movies featured in the just concluded festival were about those who are a little different from the rest of us and how their inclusion in everyday life should never be a matter of shame.

My Brother Chases Dinosaurs, an Italian film, is about a family with a child with special needs. Jack and Gio are two brothers, but the former is uncomfortable with the latter because he has Down Syndrome and, therefore, tries to conceal his existence from his friends.

Fearing being ridiculed and mocked, he comes up with elaborate false stories but in the end, the façade comes off followed by a realisation that society is made up of a plethora of people, with each and everyone having a special role, and not a single one less important than the other.

In Bangladesh too, social acceptance of children with special abilities has been slow to develop. In 1977, when SWID Bangladesh, one of the first schools for children with Autism and Down Syndrome, opened in Eskaton, Dhaka, children with special needs were often regarded either as a burden or as a curse.

“The sad truth is that in rural Bangladesh of the past, children who needed special care were deemed a punishment for sins committed by parents or ancestors; this abominable concept was so entrenched that even a distorted explanation was sometimes used to justify and perpetuate it,” remarked a parent who had come to watch the film at Alliance Francaise de Dhaka. 

There was a sense of shame, stigma surrounding children with special needs – a situation which has seen arefreshing change as society in general begins to jettison notions that once worked to engender division and prejudice.

The Italian film brought back memories of Rain Man, the 1988 Hollywood production starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. In that movie,Cruise,a smooth talking wheeler dealer, is indignant when he finds that his estranged father had left a fortune for his brother, who is an Autism Savant.

Although with typical Hollywood treatment, the film provides the glitz of Las Vegas casinos, 80s flamboyant fashion topped with the American road movie thrill, the message from both Rain Man and My Brother Chases Dinosaurs remain the same – just because someone needs a little more attention, does not mean, s/he is an outcast. 

 The buzz the festival created is a testament to the undying appeal of reality based films, touching contemporary issues.

“What I found fascinating was the similarity in social angst faced by children both in developed nations and a developing country like Bangladesh,” observed Zahirul Islam Mamoon, currently working on the visual sequencing of a fantasy thriller for OTT platform.

In many of the European films, teenagers were the protagonists; the adolescent period of life, marked by conflicting thoughts, emotions and demons, are pretty much the same across the globe, added Mamoon.

Pantho Rahman, a senior journalist who watched Mally can Fly, another Dutch film about a young girl’s aspiration to become a basketball star, said: “movies encouraging sports among youngsters are essential, especially in South Asian countries where pursuing sport or any sport related profession is either deemed unworthy or looked at with scepticism by society in general.”

Countless young people are compelled to kill their sporting instincts to fit into a social system with a very insular understanding of what an ‘acceptable’ profession should be, added, Pantho.

In Pantho’s lines, we come across embedded concepts that are horribly incongruous with a cosmopolitan outlook but keep on surviving simply due to our reluctance to come out of a shell, commented, Mahadi Hasan, a journalist for a Bangla daily.

When asked about possible impact of the movies shown at the festival, Aditi Das, a theatre activist, said: “films reflecting social matters can be made with a small budget and these movies should work as an inspiration for those wanting to take film making seriously.”

Naturally, all movie makers dream of a box office hit, but before venturing into full fledged commercial productions, making reality based films should be a priority because twenty years later, these will be celluloid records of the creed of current society, added Aditi

There is a line in film making: “Aesthetically, historically and culturally relevant” and today, when we want to take a glimpse of life in Bangladesh in the privation and austerity driven decades after independence, we don’t look at commercial films but social dramas.

 Most of the movie goers of the festival were young and while appreciating realism in the presentations, voiced interest to watch more films about lives of migrant families in European countries.

“A large number of Bangladeshis now reside in Europe; their lives, trials and tribulations plus the complexities faced by their children in assimilating into other cultures should be portrayed,” opined Faizul Bari, a French teacher and leading interpreter, adding: “second, third generation South Asian Europeans will have to make a healthy symbiosis between their ethnic background and their European identity; this unique blend will create a new generation of Europeans.”

At the concluding event, Ambassadors Charles Whiteley and Ms Irma Van Dueren expressed their delight at the success of the film festival, thanked Bangla daily ProthomAlo for their invaluable support, airing optimism and hope to add more aesthetic and celluloid dimension to similar events in the future.