Oscars should be awarded only in categories of fiction. Award them to screenplay writers, cinematographers, sound engineers, music composers, editors, actors, actresses and visual effects teams. And award them to directors of fiction films. But don't award them in categories of non-fiction. Because you Oscar committee members are unaware of many great non-fiction/documentary films. A Night of Prophecy [2002], Tales from the Margins [2006], Q2P [not found], Manjuben Truckdriver [2002], Sundari: An Actor Prepares [1999], In the Forest Hangs a Bridge [1999], Pretty Dyana [2003], Nusrat Has Left the Building...But When? [1997], Planeta Alemania -Observations from Invisibility [1999], Scribbles on Akka [2000], Word Within the Word [2007], Holiday Camp [2002], My Migrant Soul [2000], Shit (Pee) [2003], Language of War [2004], 7 Islands and a Metro [2006], Unlimited Girls: A Fearless Tale of Feminism [not found], The Die is Caste [2004], Black Pamphlets [2007], and Hot of the Press=Tazaa Khabar [2006] are some non-fiction films worth a viewing+listening. I saw+heard most of these named during the first/2008 edition of the Persistence Resistence film festival, which was a space whose description is best aided by the brochures then available and the banners then posted over there. The second/2009 and third/2010 editions of the festival have happened by now. I did not attend them yet I am sure they were as educational and striking as the first, particularly for first time attenders. To conclude my line of argument about the non-fiction film illiteracy of the Oscar committee, read now that none of the non-fiction films I saw+heard at Persistence Resistance 2008 have been nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category of the Oscar awards.
Meghe Dhaka Tara [1960], Hirak Rajar Deshe [1980], Taare Zameen Par [2007], Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! [2008], Dev D [2009] and Gulaal [2009] are Indian fiction films seen+heard by me till now that are worthy of an Oscar each. LSD=Love Sex aur Dhoka [2010] is an Indian fiction film that I have not seen+heard till now but know as being Oscar worthy too. So the number of great Indian fiction films seen+heard by me is very small. That does not imply they are too few to warrant the Oscar committee's attention. Or actually that implication is correct. But that did not commercially matter to all these films except Meghe Dhaka Tara. So what am I trying to say? People can happily live without awards and nominations while making worthwile contributions to film making. Hence do I end this essay -grasping at the only piece of logic left to me.
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So, um, how does any of this imply that Indian fiction films are worth an Oscar each and that the Oscar Committee Members aren't aware of these, and other, non-fiction/documentary films?
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ReplyDeleteYou have pointed out the lack of a necessary item, the writing of which I sidelined in my hurry to post the rest on the blog. For the record, I started by listing Indian fiction films that I consider great, then listing great non-fiction films seen+heard by me (or rather listing works that have appeared in a non-fiction film festival worth attending), then generating the line of argument regarding the Oscar committee's non-fiction film illiteracy. Perhaps I should add that none of the non-fiction films seen+heard by me at Persistence Resistance 2008 have been nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category of the Oscar awards. Perhaps I should also explain the qualities of the Indian fiction films that I consider great. Have I hit the nails on the correct spots?
ReplyDeleteMore or less, yes, you have. Rest we discussed yesterday.
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