Master
Class by Sameera Jain at MMFSA
Sameera Jain was here in MMFSA on 9th
December 2017, to give a Master Class on “Documentary Filmmaking: Contemporary
Trends.” Her presentation was based on two of her documentaries, Mera Apna
Sheher and Bhai Mian. Apart
from Filmmaking students of MMFSA, students from Fatima College, Wakf Board
College, Yadhava College, American College and faculty from Kalasilingam
University, attended the session. Everything started with a completely
different viewing experience which in a way, baffled many. Some of the students
were initially confused. Sameera took off from this confusion.
After making the distinction between
viewing mainstream films and a documentaries, she went ahead talking about the
kind of creative challenges documentary filmmaking can demand. The lessons of
the four hour exercise, can be briefly summed up as follows:
1.
A fiction film is a ‘lie made to
look real,’ whereas the documentary
claims to portray the ‘real.’ True to the postmodern spirit, Sameera tried to
underline the difference between ‘portraying the real’ and making the
‘representation of the real.’
2.
The ‘representation of the
real’ again changes from one filmmaking protocol to another.
3.
Then you arrive at the
question, “What is Sameera’s protocol for making a creative documentary?”
i.
You choose a subject which the
mainstream filmmaking refuses to see. In other words, you choose ‘what you see
but refuse notice.’ The choice of the subject always lies on the periphery of
the society, and not in the centre. In Mera Apna Sheher, this is
exemplified by choosing to represent the ‘gendered space of Delhi city’ available
to different women of subaltern strata.
ii.
The narrative needs to be least
structured that a collage of representations of sequences demand the viewers
watch the documentary carefully, making multiple stories. The non-linearity of
narration, play of images and the unreliability of narration facilitate this.
iii.
The cinematographic protocol is
to capture the spirit of the ‘faceless’ and the ‘voiceless’. Though multiple
cameras are used, their positioning and movements portray the anxiety,
unpredictability and vulnerability of the subjects in question. In Mera Apna
Sheher, the gendered space made available to the less fortunate women is
captured in terms of shaky images, images with haze and a casual framing of
shots that do not easily configure around human figures.
iv.
So much depends on process
documentation. However Sameera’s documentaries cannot go without a few staging's
involving main subjects. This needs a
lot of care that they do not create too much of performative distortions.
v.
Finally, the editing does not
intend to conceal the filmmaking protocol but does invite self-conscious
viewing and facilitate multiple story construction. There is no central point
to arrive at coherent narrative.
vi.
Then the author of the
documentary ‘must be dead’. Ironically,
Sameera was a bit reluctant to admit this.
It
was certainly a good exercise for students that how the medium of the film is
pushed beyond its entertainment value and serve art and education.
T. Chinnaraj Joseph
