Lest we forget
By Vijaya Pushkarna
NO TRIVIA THIS...
I Remember , the film
“My
name is Adhira Goswami”
“My
husband’s name is Gaurav…. Mazumdar”
“My
daughter’s name is ….” And she pauses, thinks, runs to the daughter’s room,
flips the pages of dozens of books there, looks here and there.
“I remember” made by Geetha Sahai
in mid 2018 is an intense hour long
drama film in a happy mix of English and Hindi .The film is going to be shown at
the 11th Annual Women’s History Month Festival, New Jersey, USA, on March
31. The festival celebrates women in
film, music and art , and is on from
Mar 25 to April 16. A variety of films of different genres from all over
the world are slated to be screened.
Geetha, who is co-director of her production house Heart and Soul Media Pvt Ltd, is delighted, but it is not
the first time that she and “I Remember” are seeing laurels. What has always brought her
joy is the appreciation of a subject close to her heart by viewers, and the
message that they take home.
The film is about early onset of Alzheimer’s. The story of Adhira, Gaurav and Shivani is powerfully directed and enacted,
keeping the story tightly in context, and not giving in to theatrics or
elements of entertainment that a similar subject would possibly have in a
mainstream Bollywood film. Geetha’s craft as a film maker however matches the
best in the industry.
“ It’s a great opportunity (to show the film at the Women’s History Month Festival)because the audience is different, and also because it
is a celebration of women directors and women film makers. To have a film
screened in that high and esteemed platform , I am extremely delighted,
honoured and humbled ”,says she.
It also appears to have been a pleasant surprise for Geetha, ahead of
International Women’s Day.
The festival organisers approached her, because they knew about the film that had already been screened
and awarded at Las Vegas. And she was asked
to submit it . “I am looking forward to it, and I think the
audience will be great, as well they will churn out in large numbers . It is a
ticketed thing, so I am grateful to them for
including my film” elaborates the film maker, who has a 30-year long career in journalism, across print,
radio, television and films.
Her training was primarily in print and radio, but
with her “visual eye” from childhood, she was making short ad films even before becoming a full-fledged film
maker. She has done everything from script writing to voice over and even
independently stood in at the shoot of such films, early in her career.
According to Geetha, creativity begins where reporting stops, and it is
all about showing people what they generally do not see. The germ for “I
remember” was when she saw people ignore or laugh at people who forgot small
and not so small things. As a creative person, she believes that there is life
beyond that forgetful moment, and her
story begins there and then.
“It is not about forgetting, it is a neurological disorder, that puts a
lot of strain on the patient, and no less on the caregivers” says Geetha, who
has gone beyond writing , directing and producing the film. She raised a
campaign for intellectual disability and Alzheimer’s through Swayam Foundation
of which she is the founder-president.
“ The screening at the Festival will take my message to a much larger
audience, the whole concept of making this film was that the message should
reach the unreachable, and it should create awareness.”, says Geetha, but does
not believe that one film is enough to create awareness. But according to her, it does initiate dialogue and once a dialogue is initiated, then people do
notice the ailment, notice the cause the film has taken up. So it does someway act as a springboard for
larger discussions.
“I Remember” is available on Amazon Prime UK and USA, through Pocket Films, her aggregator and distributor
for the digital platform.“But since it is not released in
Amazon Prime India, I think it was not accepted here “ says the
director-producer.
Geetha sent the film through the film festivals circuit where it gathered
a clutch of awards, and was hoping for
the film’s digital release in India. But
in star struck India where even web series peck on Bollywood star cast, that
has yet to happen.
Meanwhile Geetha has begun work on her next film -- a psychological
drama.
- Alzheimer’s in India is a hidden problem.
- Only a tiny fraction of patients are formally diagnosed or treated.
- Most Indians still consider memory loss as an inevitable part of ageing or consider that the person has gone crazy and do not want to treat the patient at home.
- There’s huge stigma and ignorance surrounding Alzheimer’s.
- More than 4 million people are estimated to be suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, giving the country the third highest caseload in the world, after China and the US.
- India’s dementia and Alzheimer’s burden is forecast to reach almost 7.5 million by the end of 2030.
- And these patients have nowhere to go.
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