Chinese film Crested Ibis resonates with the audience at BIFFes

A reporter who comes to his native village to report on the sighting of an endangered bird species, Crested Ibis, faces hostility for his earlier reporting on the pollution caused by a cement factory, leading to its closure and job loss. The village now fears reporting of the bird sighting will lead to the village being declared a reserve forest closing down the factory again.

Chinese film Crested Ibis, which lays bare the dilemma between pollution and development in the China model of development, resonated with the audience at BIFFes.

Qiao Liang, maker of the film, said he was overwhelmed by the response and said its resonance in India only showed the dilemmas the two developing countries shared. “Pollution has become a rich man’s problem in our countries. The poor in the village want to survive and any talk of pollution feels absurd. I am sure it is similar in India too,” he said.

This is shown in the film as the reporter Vince Kang, a native who comes back to the village as an outsider, understands the motivations of his fellow villagers and is no longer sure of his perspective on the story. He tells his editor the villagers mistook an egret to be a Crested Ibis.

“Much of the discourse around climate change has been happening from the rich man’s perspective. Understanding this dilemma itself is a good start and that is what I intended to do with the film,” said Mr. Liang, who teaches film making at Beijing Film Academy.

‘Amir Khan popular in China’

The market for Indian films in China has great potential, said Qiao Liang. “Aamir Khan is a very popular star in China today. His films Dangal and Secret Superstar were huge hits. Indian films are very similar to ours. They move the Chinese people as it has a wholesome story and music,” he said.

P. Sheshadri seeks screens for alternate cinema

Noted Kannada director P. Sheshadri demanded that at least two theatres owned by the government – Puttanna Kanagal theatre in Jayanagar and Shankar Nag theatre on M.G. Road – be reserved for screening of alternate and experimental cinema.

“When I started making films in 2000, there were single screen theatres in the State that were screening my films. But not any more. It is appreciable that the government has been supporting BIFFes for a decade now. But this is a one-off event and its intervention is needed for exhibiting such experimental films in the city. Only this will help us develop an audience for such films and encourage film makers to experiment,” he said.

The film maker also demanded that the film festival must now look at other cities, such as Hubballi and Koppal. “Last year, BIFFes was held in Mysuru too, which saw over 1,000 fans watching films. But this year, the festival was not held there despite demand from the audience,” he said.