Woman with a movie camera director Atal Krishnan speaks
At a time when cinema is a multi-million dollar business, a film with an investment of just Rs 5,000 will be screened at the International Film Festival. Atal Krishnan’s long-cherished dream came true when ‘Woman with a Movie Camera’ was screened at IFFK on Monday. ‘Woman with a Movie Camera’ is a film that moves away from the stereotypes of contemporary cinema. Atal Krishnan talks to Indian Express Malayalam about the first film and the way it went.
The way to the cinema
I’m been making short films since Plus 2. He later joined a film institute. He did some short films again with a team he knew. In the meantime, he took a journalism course and started a YouTube channel with a few journalism students. The film ‘Woman with a Movie Camera’ was made in collaboration with that group of friends.
My friend Athira, she is playing a major role in this movie. Athira told me about an incident that happened in her life and when she talked to many women about that incident, most of them came to know that she had had such experiences in her life. I’m not saying what happened, that’s the basis of my picture. When I felt the need to tell people about it, I thought of many ways, thinking that we could get it to people through a short film or through our YouTube channel. But when we realize that cinema is the most popular way, we come to the film ‘Woman with a Movie Camera’.
The film was born on a budget of Rs 5,000
The film is made in a different zone. This is a genre that existed during the French New Wave era and can be called the Truthful movie. A 1930s film, Man with a Movie Camera, was also in the same journal. That image has inspired us. We had a lot of Rs 5,000 to shoot our film in this zone. The film was shot on a Sony A7M3 model camera. There is no special sound in this zoner, so there was a system for recording sound on the camera itself. We made a casting call for the cast and got a guy named Mahita UP through it. We needed a woman who knew how to handle the camera. That is how we strengthen Mahita. Friend Athira plays another important role. Athira and I are finishing the script. After that there was a rehearsal camp for three months. These three months, the camp prepared everyone for the movie because everyone is new. During the rehearsal we rewrote the conversations.
Was it an attitude to make a film on such a low budget?
Of course, there are endless possibilities for the so-called medium of cinema. The more we learn about the language of cinema, the more we can make different kinds of films, and mainstream films are still becoming news stories in the same mold because they did not learn it or not. If we learn more about the form of cinema and the possibilities of visual language, we can make any kind of film.
Directors like Steven Soderbergh have even filmed on the phone, but even some of the leading directors or independent filmmakers here are not making films in the name of no money. Of course, this film is also a sign against the capitalist tendencies in cinema. I believe that Woman with a Movie Camera will be a film that changes the way you can make a good movie for a penny and makes you pay more attention to the form of the movie.
Is form or content important to the film?
I am someone who believes more in form. I believe that even a film without content can be turned into an interesting viewing experience if more experimentation is done on the form. The Man with a Movie camera is an example of this. But in this picture of mine, the content is also important.
What is the concept behind ‘Woman with a Movie Camera’?
Within the patriarchal institution of the family we see in general, society generalizes a lot of the problems that women face from morning till night. All such issues have been subtly portrayed in this film. A woman named Mahita is going to do a documentary at the house of a friend named Athira, where the film captures a few scenes that Mahita captures on their camera. Mahita comes across as an amateur film student. Here are a few scenes of him going to a friend’s house to pick up a swindled documentary to submit to college the next day. Elements of the Blair Witch Project have influenced my film. Although the film may seem like a doc fiction style, many of its parts are taken very naturally and are shot very organically without any rehearsal. There is no acting, the scenes are honestly filmed so the film is a mixture of truth and story.
How do you expect this image to reach more people?
It’s trying to reach people through film festivals. I know not everyone likes a movie like this. Negotiations are underway with OTD platforms. The film is likely to be selected in one or two fairs. Not sure yet.
How do you see being selected in IFFK?
Has been with IFFK since 2016. I have always wanted to make a film after each fair. But it doesn’t matter if you just make a movie, you have to make a movie if you have nothing to say. So Aathira told an incident and it became a movie. When the movie was over, we all got together and came up with an idea to send the movie to IFFK. IFFK was a dream of ours and I was really happy when I was selected. The first show itself was House Full. Getting good feedback.
Given that you are a student of a non-standard film school, what is your position on such institutions?
In my opinion this seems to be an issue of student perspective. The two colleges I attended, the name of which I do not wish to reveal, both were of no standard. The Film Institute where he went to study in Kozhikode is now non-existent and closed. From my experience I can say that I do not have to go to the institute to study film. More knowledge is available to you through the internet than you can get from an institute. There are many sites like No Film School now where we can learn about cinema. It turned out that the teachers who taught us were not even qualified, and that there was a kind of exploitation going on in such film schools.