People’s Film Collective is an independent, autonomous, people-funded cultural-political collective based in West Bengal. Formed in 2013, it is convinced through observation, experience and participation about the power of films as a weapon of pedagogy of the oppressed as well as a window that opens out to an alternative media for people.

This year marked the fourth annual festival for this organisation that does not charge gate money, has no money to spend on advertising across the media or in the city through hoardings and billboards, does not accept sponsorship or funding and has no way of harnessing funds except through a donation box kept at the exit gate of the screening venue asking the audience to put in something to keep the movement going. The screenings were classified into 11 sessions such as  Little Cinema, Tributes, Dalit Movement Now, Justice Denied, Songs of Life, Songs of Rebellion, Difficult Loves, Working Lives, Our Cities, and A Torn Subcontinent. 

The KPFF featured a books and films stall, with a selection of DVDs and books, art prints and posters. An art exhibition, showcasing 60 original paintings of Baroda-based artist Rollie Mukherjee, ran at a second venue, the TENT art space. The exhibition was jointly organised by People’s Film Collective, Conflictorium (Ahmedabad) and TENT art platform (Kolkata). There was a daily bulletin brought out by the volunteers. 
A children’s section with screenings, discussions and talks chaired by professor Sanjay Mukherjee of JU Film Studies Department began the fest. More than 120 children studying in the low and middle-level classes from four Kolkata schools were active participants and enjoyed two wonderful films like the very tragic 400 Blows and Two Solutions for One Problem, a film by Abbas Kiarostami about friendships and solutions. Among other films shown were Aparajito and Matir Moyna. 

Among biopics was a 41-minute film on Mahasweta Devi – Close-Up by Joshy Joseph and the other was a 66-minute biopic on Ima Sabitri directed by Bobo Khuraijam. The first is not exactly a biopic though Joseph imaginatively weaves in tiny nuggets of this writer-activist-crusader’s earlier life through an interesting conversation. 

KPPF introduced the actively participating audience to an unique movement called Dalit Camera little-known among film buffs and even among lovers of the documentary movement. Dalit Camera is a  YouTube Channel, which documents perspectives on/voices of Dalits, Adivasis, Bahujans and Minorities (DABM). The first incident covered by DC was on the desecration of the Ambedkar statue in Hyder-abad. Dalit Camera was founded in 2011 with an ordinary still camera with a rudimentary video recording facility. Now, with support from various like-minded organisations and people, it owns own four cameras, working in two states, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Dalit Camera  today is a team of volunteers actively engaged in videos of protest, public meetings, discussions, talks and upload it on the Internet. Expenses are usually met by voluntary contribution.

Three stories, namely, Una, Malkangiri and Justice for Rohith Vemula — a series of videos were shown. Justice for Rohith Vemula borrowed from the background score of a song from Kabaali — by a Dalit director. The Malkangiri clip spoke about the Japanese Encephalitis case in Malkangiri and the connection between poor nutrition and the propensity for malnourished children getting the virus. Going Gonzo by Venkat Ravichander shows us the protests at Una which happened after Dalit men were trashed in broad daylight in Una, Gujarat. It shows how important it is for the Dalit community to be able to farm their own land and how lip service from politicians is seen as just that — lip service.

Flames of Freedom: The Ichchapur Declaration, directed by Subrat Sahu spoke about the legacy of landlessness and the impact of development on landowners. One of the questions asked by the audience was if there was any resistance from the Brahmins while Subrat was filming. The film very significantly documents some people -ed protests against caste-based discrimination in Ichchapur, a village in Kalahandi district of Odisha, which is an adivasi area recently appropriated by Brahmins. 

Voices from the Ruins: Kandhamal in search of Justice, directed by KP Sasi charted the course of caste and religion-based atrocities in Orissa especially focusing on the Kandhamal riots. The film also portrayed the desperate state of economy most Adivasis, Dalits and Christians are residing in with growing threats to their religious and cultural identity.

There were two films that documented the real life stories about the tragedies of living within the mainstream with alternative gender identities and sexual choices. I am Bonnie that won an award at the Kolkata International Film Festival is an excellent documenting of the life of a football player, born and raised a woman (Bandana Paul), who was forced to leave the game and change multiple cities due to a different gender identity, and later undergoes SRS to become, Bonnie. Bandana was one of the finest strikers India had; however upon breaking of news of Bandana’s different sexual identity, he is forced to seek exile and change professions from idol maker to taking up menial jobs and living a hand to mouth existence.

Abar Jodi Ichchha Karo… (If You Dare Desire…), the feature film (fiction), takes off from the ending of the filmmakers earlier documentary titled, … Ebang Bewarish (… And The Unclaimed). It is a fictional work although it commences from a real life suicide committed by two girls in 2013 in Nandigram with one of them leaving behind a six page suicide note titled, “My life”.

Songs of Life showcased two films. Naachi se Baachi (Dance for Survival) is a recounting of the life of the iconic Ramdayal Munda covering the vast range of his personality and plethora of work. The film revolves around the theme of Munda culture apart from the deeply etched narrative by Gunjal Munda, Ram-dayal Munda’s son revisiting his father’s life and work. The film in a nuanced manner weaved social, economic and political movements along with documenting the life and times of Ramdayal Munda ending with him receiving the Padma Shri award in 2010. The film is directed by Meghnath and Biju Toppo who founded a NGO for adivasis called Akhra. 

Brief Life of Insects directed by Tarun Bhartia is one of a six-part series around the birth of folk songs to live by in the Khasi hills of Meghalaya, sung by local farmers and workers. It opened a window into how music is melded into the working lives of farmers and is not exclusive to music performers or folk singers.
Working Lives focussed on two different narratives of labour exploitations in two different parts of India through two documentaries. The first The Song of Margaret’s Hope portrayed the everyday labour abuse in the closed tea gardens, where malnutrition and starvation deaths have become common, and the continuous ceaseless exploitation, which only rarely makes it to mainstream news headlines; such “news” never reports much beyond death statistics. The second titled Dollar City, directed by Amudhan RP showcased the ground situation of garment workers along with other export oriented garment hosiery workers including migrant workers in the Tirupur industrial hub.

Thereafter was Life Cycle, directed by Malini Sur, and Mod (The Turn) directed by Pushpa Rawat. The first documentary explored the place of the bicycle in the everyday lives of the city dwellers of Kolkata. The film takes us through the roadmap of how people from different walks of life – in particular the daily wage labourers and lower middle class commuters — are getting affected by the ban on cycles in several key streets of the city. Mod is a beautiful attempt by Pushpa Rawat at communicating with the young men who hang out at the notorious water tank in her neighbourhood in Pratap Vihar, Ghaziabad. The water tank or tanki, as said colloquially, is a space that is frequented by the so-called no-gooders of the locality for playing cricket, cards or drinking and smoking up.

On the other hand, 18 Feet, is about Karinthalakoottam, a popular folk music band of working class Dalit men that performs in Kerala’s Thrissur district. The film follows the journey of the band from its gaining huge popularity in the state to its trip to Malaysia for the Rain Forest Music festival and highlights their performance as a cultural asset. The film shares a strong message against caste oppression and a journey towards equality. 

Soz — A Ballad of Maladies is a powerful film on the poetry, music and art of Kashmir with voices from the state. It had Sufiyana music, hip hop, rock, words from wandering poets covering the warp and the weft of the Kashmiri society and the effect of music and art on ones consciousness. 

Even the Crows: A Divided Gujarat, directed by British-Gujarati sisters Sheena and Sonum Sumaria is a scathing indictment that pits memory against forgetting reminding us  about the sins and crimes committed by the Hindutva forces during the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, and how despite these atrocities Narendra Modi and the Sangh foot soldiers not only evaded justice but also climbed the ladder of state power.

Forbidden Notes chronicles the unjust incarceration of over four years and continued denial of justice to young members of the Kabir Kala Manch (only some time ago, their members got bail, though justice is nowhere near in sight). 

Ekhono Ekattor (71, Still Now) directed by Manzare Hassin Murad unfolds the inception of the Shahbag movement, its build-up into one of the largest peoples movement in the subcontinent and the world in recent years and the stories of the people behind it. The activists call for a ban of Jamaat 
parties. 

The closing film A Walnut Tree, directed by Ammar Aziz, offers an insight into the lives of internally displaced people. An old man, living with his family in the Jalozai refugee camp speaks about his life back home.