Kolkata Film Festival to Highlight Immigrant Experiences Through Cinema
The upcoming 12th edition of the Kolkata People's Film Festival (KPFF) is set to bring narratives of immigrant lives to the forefront when it commences on January 23. This significant cultural event will showcase compelling accounts of Bengali migrants in Kerala, Bangladeshi immigrants in the United States, and even a Rohingya girl's determined fight for her right to education within the world's largest refugee camp.
Resilience as Central Theme in Festival Programming
The resilience demonstrated by these diverse communities forms the central thematic focus for 10 out of the 39 films scheduled for screening during the festival. Kasturi Basu, a founding member of People's Film Collective and an integral part of the programming team, emphasized to TOI that these selected films contain "very strong statements about the lives of migrants and immigrants."
"During our curation process, we discovered powerful commonalities in the stories emerging from South Asian migrant communities," Basu explained. "Their narratives reveal how they are actively reclaiming their histories despite operating within a globally anti-immigrant climate."
Featured Films Exploring Migration Experiences
The festival will present a diverse selection of films that examine migration from multiple perspectives:
- Ambarien Alqadar's 'Land of Dreams'
- Vivek Bald and Allaudin Ullah's 'In Search of Bengali Harlem'
- Kesang Tseten's 'The Lama's Son'
- Debarun Dutta's 'The Delivery Guy'
- Saw Alvin Tun's 'A Waiting Room'
- Rishabh Raj Jain's 'A Dream Called Khushi'
- Prabodh Bhajni's 'My Home Yeh Mera Ghar'
- Dipin Chenayil's 'See Me When You Leave'
- Tommaso Cotronei's 'Myanmar Resistance'
- Shekh Al Mamun's 'Drained by Dreams'
Notable Film Highlights and Their Stories
Particularly noteworthy is 'A Dream Called Khushi', created in both Rohingya and English languages, which documents a Rohingya girl's persistent struggle to secure her fundamental right to education. Meanwhile, 'The Delivery Guy' traces the experiences of two South Asian immigrants who arrived in Berlin as students and subsequently found employment within the food delivery sector.
Saw Alvin Tun's 'A Waiting Room' examines the consequences of Ko Naing's flight from Myanmar to evade compulsory military service, along with his subsequent struggles and the sometimes irresponsible actions of his own community members during his resettlement process in Bangkok.
Innovative Storytelling Through Sound Design
The trilingual film 'See Me, When You Leave' (presented in Malayalam, Hindi, and Bengali) follows migrant workers Shahjahan, Salam, Mohammad, Israel, Mafas, Ali, and Naseer Khan as they journey from Murshidabad to Perumbavur in Kerala. Director Dipin Chenayil employs sound design as a central narrative device to explore themes of displacement and belonging.
The film opens with a worker listening to an audio training guide to learn Malayalam and concludes with four workers participating in a karaoke session, singing a song from 'Amar Songi'. This creative framing allows audiences to experience migration through the lenses of listening, language acquisition, and shared cultural performance.
Director's Personal Connection to Migration Themes
Chenayil, who has personally experienced living away from home while working in Delhi, shared his artistic motivations: "I have been deeply preoccupied with questions about how individuals process loss when compelled to leave their homes and adapt to unfamiliar environments. I sought to create an experiential soundscape that enables audiences to hear how workers gradually build belonging in new places while reclaiming their sense of self."
"This marks my debut film as a director, and I am particularly excited to screen it in Kolkata alongside other films exploring migration themes," Chenayil added, expressing anticipation for the festival's collaborative atmosphere.
The Kolkata People's Film Festival promises to offer audiences profound insights into the complex realities of migration through these carefully curated cinematic works, fostering greater understanding of immigrant experiences in contemporary society.
