Three days of carnage: What really happened in 1984? 

Filmmaker Teenaa Kaur brings her hard-hitting documentary on the survivors of the 1984 Sikh pogrom to Kerala
The departed
The departed

Film festivals in the state are almost always marred by controversy. The 10th annual International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) is no exception. Though Mumbai-based Teenaa Kaur Pasricha’s 1984, When the Sun Didn’t Rise has been approved for screening inThiruvananthapuram, the filmmaker is deeply saddened that The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has denied permission to showcase three campus protest films: In the Shade of Fallen Chinar, The Unbearable Being of Lightness and March, March, March. 

Teenaa, whose previous feature In Symphony with Earth was picked up by National Geographic, explains, “Freedom of expression should never be curbed. Be it films about Kashmir’s youth, Rohith Vemula’s suicide or JNU protests, our authorities need to stop operating from a place of fear. We should learn from history. This is similar to how Prime Minister Indira Gandhi quelled religious leader Bhindranwale’s voice during the ’80s, which eventually lead to Operation Blue Star and her subsequent assassination which perpetrated the three-day-long genocide of the Sikh community in Delhi and other parts of India.” 

Souls left behind
The hour-long film, which took five years to complete, questions why, even after 33 years, the judicial system has failed to punish a large percentage of the individuals who committed these grave acts. It also focusses on the wives and children of the 3,000 odd men who lost their lives in the massacre (in Delhi alone), most of whom are illiterate and live inside a compound known as the Widows Colony. 
“Via interviews with these resilient women—who witnessed the brutal massacre of their men at the hands of frenzied mobs and are now witnessing their children wither away from drug abuse—I’m trying to rekindle memories amongst those who are trying to forget one of India’s darkest periods. All of this, boils down to discrimination and cultural identity,” explains the FTII alumnus.

She stresses that despite certain tones, the narrative is observational. “To maintain neutrality, I’ve even interviewed politician Jagdish Tytler, who despite being acquitted by the court was allegedly involved in the atrocities, and documented his version of the events,” adds Teenaa, who is already working on a new project called The Woods Are Calling, which tells the story of eco-conservation efforts amongst Nagaland’s headhunter tribes. 

Filmmaker Teenaa Kaur interviewing a survivor
Filmmaker Teenaa Kaur interviewing a survivor



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Curtain raiser to IDSFFK
Helmed by National Award-winning director Kamal, the four-day-long film IDSFFK will host screenings at multiple venues across Thiruvananthapuram. Besides over 150 features being showcased in categories like long documentaries, international and campus films, the festival will also focus on films by auteurs like Wim Wenders and animated films from Latin America by artsites like Tomás Welss. From June 16-20. Details: idsffk.in

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