Standing ovation for ‘Farming the Revolution’ documentary at Kolkata premiere

KOLKATA: Nishtha Jain's ‘Farming the Revolution'—a documentary that invites viewers to experience the everyday textures and indomitable spirit of the historic farmers' movement—had its Kolkata premiere at the Kolkata People's Film Festival (KPFF) and received a standing ovation. A repeat screening was held at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) on Monday, leaving many overwhelmed by Jain's "objectivity" while archiving "one of the most important movements that the world has seen in this century."
The documentary could have been just an exercise in jingoism with statistics like 12 million farmers participating in the protests for 13 months, resulting in 702 deceased, hogging all the attention. Instead, it became a humane portrait of the lives of protestors, with ample use of poetry and music. "This documentary records one of the most important movements that the world has seen in this century. It is a great achievement for a director to spend time with the people involved with the unit for so long and then find a thread to explore in her documentary. With just one unit, Nishtha spent some 100 days on the site. To edit 600 hours of footage while retaining the film's cinematic and objective quality is tough. The film is shot well. But the more footage she gathered, the greater the difficulty of editing it. Yet, she retained the balance in the film and made it so cinematic. She didn't let it become a propaganda machinery. The role of women in this movement has also been highlighted properly," said director Supriyo Sen.

What impressed director Suman Mukhopadhyay was the way Jain captured the dailyness in the lives of protestors. "She filmed moments when nothing much was happening. It showed their resilience. That is an important lesson from contemporary history. There is a definite honesty and belief in political resistance. She never wanted to prove something," Mukhopadhyay pointed out.
Jain was overwhelmed to share the film with her filmmaker colleagues and hear their responses. "The audience at 11th KPFF was very moved by ‘Farming the Revolution’. I received a standing ovation. Several audience members came for the repeat screening at SRFTI which was attended by veteran filmmakers, film artists, film professors and film students. It was an overwhelming experience for me to share the film with my filmmaker colleagues and to hear their responses." She also enjoyed the post-screening discussions. "A very interesting discussion followed about the process of making the film—the challenges faced while filming the world's largest protest over a period of 13 months, finding my characters in this huge gathering, and the challenges of navigating hundreds of hours of rushes, which required translations before we could begin editing," she said.