For me, Kolkata and the documentary practice are deeply intertwined: Shaunak Sen – Times of India

Kolkata News
KOLKATA: Shaunak Sen’s ‘All That Breathes’ has been selected as part of special screening at the 75 edition of Cannes Film Festival. The 10-day festival, which runs from May 17 to 28, will premiere Sen’s film. In January, the film won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. The 90-minute long documentary follows siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who have devoted their lives to rescue and treat injured birds, especially the Black Kites. The Delhi brothers become the central focus of Sen’s film and their story documents a larger snapshot of the city, where the air is toxic and the ground is on a slowburn of social turmoil. Excerpts from an interview with the director:
Is it true that the journey of ‘All That Breathes’ (ATB) got triggered after you pitched the project at DocedgeKolkata, Asian Forum for Documentary?
Majority of significant recent documentaries in India have had some or the other connection with Docedge. In many ways, the journey of ATB also got triggered by pitching at Docedge though we’d received grants prior to that. At Docedge, I met someone who invited me to pitch at the Sheffield’s forum. I went on to meet my British producers there. In various ways, that’s where a major part of the film’s journey got activated.
Have you ever assisted any director before starting your project?
No. Usually, the conventional structure is to ascend through the ranks of assistant directorship and finally arrive at the hallowed spot of the director. There is a tacit conventional dictum in the industry that holds that one has to first become the third assistant director and then the second director while climbing through the rank. In my experience, that proved to be utter hogwash. I don’t have much to do with the Mumbai film industry and have done no work there.

A still from ‘All That Breathes’
You are also not a traditional film institute student…
I went to the Jamia MCRC where the focus was on documentary. But I never went to a traditional film school like Film and Television Institute of India or Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. I am, however, theoretically trained and did a Phd in cinema. The reason I did not have to take the conventional path is because the documentary form is foundationally a bit more hospitable and accommodating than the fiction form currently.
Why do you say that?
The reason is two-folds. A few years back when we were starting ‘Cities of Sleep’, the kind of infrastructural requirements required in fiction was a bit intimidating and daunting. Whereas with docu, it is a form that encourages individual expression and therefore more amenable to just setting out with your own DSLR, tripod and couple of impassioned friends helping with sound and stuff. It was a small crew and almost slapdash informal setup. I have also worked with pretty much the same set of people for years. Some new people have come in later but the directorial team has largely grown together. Documentaries allow this kind of a self-propelled growth. One can start small. And then organically grow on to work on better resourced pieces like ‘All That Breathes’. The docu form allowed me to begin with ‘Cities of Sleep’ which was gritty and raw. That experience allowed me to get more confident and learn how to mobile more resources. One is not sure how to go about fundingwise with fiction. How do you tackle this behemoth of an unknown beast that the Mumbai film industry is? Fiction felt more daunting since technically I needed more infrastructural muscle. Technically, it was difficult for me to achieve what I wanted with a small crew. Also, I didn’t know where to amass the resources from. In documentary, you have a forum like Docedge which asks a maker to send in a demo reel of two-three minutes. To the credit of Nilotpal Majumdar (who founded DocedgeKolkata, Asian Forum for Documentary), he has been able to hold on to the sanctity of respecting a good idea. He has an unfettered respect for pure ideas and inventiveness in form and concept. Documentary seemed like a more hospitable and inviting prospect. Even with this film, you realise that if you have a good idea, it is possible to go out and shoot in a tiny corner with your own unit. You don’t need to activate the behemoth that is the mainstream film industry.
What’s your Kolkata connection?
As a kid, I used to go there because my grandparents lived in Kolkata. I was brought up in Delhi. Kolkata was usually my summer vacation city. But my relationship with Kolkata in the recent years is entirely predicated on the documentary form. I have gone there thrice in the recent past and every time for Docedge. This forum is not just about incubation and pitching. It is a community of friends and peers. You feel seen and witnessed. You feel you are part of a community of people who are grappling with similar questions and are interested in similar things. There is therefore a sense of solidarity and kinship. Some of my closest practitioner friends have come from Docedge. A close friend of mine, Khushbu Ranka, made ‘An Insignificant Man’ with Vinay Shukla. I am friends with others like the Israeli filmmaker Roy Cohen there, or other senior Bengali filmmakers like Supriyo Sen or Sourav Sarangi. Recently, three of us – Khushboo, Archana Phadke (who made a film called ‘About Love’), Khushboo and I announced a documentary fund. The idea is to provide development funds to non-fiction filmmakers. This was Khushboo brainchild and initiative. She just launched it. Many of these friendships sprouted in Kolkata. For me, Kolkata and the documentary practice are deeply intertwined. If I am asked who are the people I inherited the practice from, I will mention Supriyo-da (Supriyo Sen) and Sourav-da (Sourav Sarangi). They are deeply helpful, caring and nurturing people. I don’t know if one gets nurtured and supported by seniors this way in the world of fiction. Supriyo-da and Sourav-da have been very warm and encouraging during my first film too. This city gave a sense of warm bonhomie where you feel like there is a community that is coming together. It comprised not only people who are making their first films but also those who have done this for the last 20-odd years.
Bengal has seen documentaries being made right from the time of Harisadhan Dasgupta. Shanti P Choudhury’s ‘Songs of Bengal’ was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 1957. Have the works of these veterans influenced your craft in any which way?
I’m afraid they haven’t. I only have a passing functional knowledge of them so far. But I’ll explore their works more soon.
Though your film is doing so well internationally, it is difficult to watch it here in Kolkata. How do you handle this problem of distribution and exhibition?
I have a kind of cautious and guarded optimism that things are becoming better. Guarded, because a lot of documentaries get crowded out and lost in the chaotic space of OTT platform. Having said that, let’s not forget that non-fiction has had an enormous resurgence. We have been watching a lot more. Of course, what people are watching are not always to my taste. But there is an appetite for non-fiction. That is great. I am working very hard to bring the film to a place where people can watch it. But the responsibility can’t be on the film-maker alone.
Since the watertight compartments between fiction and non-fiction are being broken down in documentaries now, what is the reaction of fiction film-makers to your achievements?
I have used fiction tools to tell a non-fiction story. Some well-known Hindi fiction film-makers recently watched ATB. All of them were very warm and personally wrote me sweet messages after watching it. There is slow recognition seeping in. In fact, I would love to read an article that explores how our counterparts in fiction look at nonfiction practice in India.
When does Kolkata get to watch your film?
I am planning to screen it soon. But there is a lot of work pressure, including cutting the trailer and so in, around Cannes. If not before the Cannes screening, I will certainly screen it in Kolkata soon after that.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/for-me-kolkata-and-the-documentary-practice-are-deeply-intertwined-shaunak-sen/articleshow/90871810.cms