BY MANO KHALIL

Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which previously ruled over the entire Arab world and the Kurdish region, in the World War I, followed by the division of Kurdistan into four countries – Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq – these governments, up to the present day, have prevented the Kurdish people in these regions from expressing their cultural, social, and national identity in all areas of art, literature, and culture. Cinema was most affected by this ban since it has a significant impact on the younger generation.

What kind of story did you want to tell when you start to write The Coffin Painter?

Film is like a mirror, it can reflect the reality of our life, and through this mirror we can see the phenomena that we have ignored. There is a consensus nowadays, the indifference of human feelings, which is there for all to see. People are realistic and everything is about the money. We don’t talk about the human kindness anymore. At first, I wanted to tell a story about neighbors. What kind of relationship between them? I wanted to have this contrast, and I came up with the story of a young girl and an old man. The young girl in the film is constantly being bullied, and bullying has been social issue in recent years. Our story is about a young girl who is being bullied and her mother who is under constant pressure from life (loan sharks), and the old man stands up to protect them both. The reality is a lead and that is how this story came out.

The film offers a poignant take on “compassion which is slowly vanishing from society”.

“We humans are losing our ability to empathise, to show kindness and care” Jayaraj.

“People like Narayanan perceive the nature and the world around them much better than us”: Director Jayaraj, on the visually challenged protagonist.

— Excerpts from an Interview with Cinematographer K K Mahajan: 

On filming Mani Kaul‘s “Uski Roti “ (1970)

 “I worked on two films with Mani Kaul. “Uski Roti” (1970) and “Ashad Ka Ek Din“(1971) Mani was very particular about his shots. He would explain exactly what he wanted. The compositions in “Uski Roti” were all inspired by Amrita Sher Gil‘s paintings. Mani told me that he wanted Sher Gil kind of compositions. I had just finished a film on her before I started
 “Uski Roti“. I had seen almost all her works, about 150 paintings.This particular film ( “Uski Roti” has a lot of resonance with Sher Gil’s compositions.

Written by Amitava Nag.  Read full article on Silhouette

In the works of Ray himself we will find that he made black-white after making films in colour as well, to him, it’s the subject which demands the medium and the treatment.