[Reader-list] Appeal to boycott Bhubaneswar Film Festival '07

[SURYA]

  Dear Friends,
I would like to bring to everyone's urgent attention on a disturbing trend
emerging in Bhubaneswar amongst the film fraternity & media persons. Over
the last few years more and more film festivals are being sponsored by
corporations facing charges of gross human rights violations & environmental
damage. The best example being Vedanta Alumina Ltd., a company that has been
internationally hounded for its activities in Orissa. Vedanta sponsored
Bring Your Film Festival in Puri two years back and now it has sponsored the
Bhubaneswar Film Festival '07.

The timing of these festivals sponsored by Vedanta is always when the
company is going through a tough time. The Bhubaneswar Film Festival '07
kicks off today, a week after the company was denied permission to carry out
bauxite mining in the pristine primary forested Niyamgiri Hills by the
Supreme Court of India on many grounds, a week after the State Pollution
Control Board issued a notice to the company for affecting more than 25,000
villagers in 10 villages by the air and water pollution caused by its
illegal factory in Lanjigarh and three weeks after the Govt of Norway
withdrew its investments in the company for its malpractices in Orissa.

The people's movement against Vedanta has been raging for five years now.
Many inncoent civilians have been beaten up by goons, and arrested under
false charges. Vedanta's factory was built in the most dubious manner and
many villages were forcefully displaced with ample support by district
administration. Their villages were bulldozed while the police held them
captive. Their cattle was shooed away and they have been put in a virtual
prison since then which the company has termed Rehabilitation Colony. One
local person was allegedly killed by the goons of the company for resisting
displacement and protesting strongly against the atrocities of the company.
Around the factory there are many stories of many deaths that have been
hushed up.

As a headline in the frontpage of The Times of India questioned a week back
"Whats good for Orissa, bad for Norway?", the same question can be put to
the organisers of the Bhubaneswar Film Festival who choose to ignore the
mishappenings in other parts of the state caused by their patron company
Vedanta. Just google keywords like Vedanta, Niyamgiri, & Lanjigarh and one
finds hundreds of webpages with adequate information on how the company has
violated almost every law of the land in order to get its way ahead.

One can only guess if the organisers are ignorant partners in this 'consent
manufacturing event' or not. Nevertheless, their disrespect towards other
citizens of the state who are suffering due to the company's activities,
cannot be more overt than the mammoth billboards plastered all over
Bhubaneswar, advertising the film festival and Vedanta's name.
These bilboards might create some goodwill amongst lovers of cinema and
distract them from the real nature of the sponsors which is most certainly a
planned strategy. Unfortunately these kind of festivals which are supposedly
for the cause of meaningful & good cinema will incur more damage on society
than the very meaningless & commercial cinema with whom they are fighting
for space.

Though I have tried my best not to make this appeal to boycott the film
festival to be a personal attack on the organisers I am compelled to mention
that seemingly they have started to make a livelihood out of organising film
festivals. In Orissa erring companies like Vedanta and Tata need all
the goodwill they can and are more than happy to pay these people more than
they ask for. Being a volunteer in some festivals in the past I am aware of
how budgets are proposed to potential sponsors who are mostly companies with
overactive PR wings (meaning they require more damage control) many times
more than the actual cost

Inscreen Film Society of which I was once a part is also planning on a film
festival next month in Bhubaneswar and it will not be a surprise if names
like Vedanta or Tata pop up again alongwith as they have started the trend
of manufacturing consent through film festival with BYOFF in Puri.
Ironically BYOFF was born to liberate and democratise film festivals but has
only proved to be facade for 'consent manufacturing'. Now Bhubaneswar Film
Society is doing it with the Bhubaneswar Film Festival '07 from today
without any regard for thousands of people in Orissa who might be displaced
if Vedanta Alumina has its way. This film festival cannot be treated as a
film festival, rather an advertising vehicle by Vedanta. I would call it a
Trojan horse and would like to sincerely appeal to everyone to boycott
such film festivals that disregard human life and nature.

With regards,
Surya Shankar Dash
Filmmaker,
Bhubaneswar

P.s. Please sign and circulate it as widely as possible.