The Unbearable Being of Lightness

The Unbearable Being of Lightness is a 45-minute documentary film made in 2016 and directed by Ramchandra PN. The documentary documents a workshop that the filmmaker had conducted for a group of students at the University of Hyderabad, immediately after the student protests on the issue of the suicide of Rohith Vemula had ended at the university.

The Unbearable Being of Lightness
Film poster
Directed byRamchandra P. N.
Written byRamchandra P. N., Sudipto Mondal
StarringSaumesh Bangera
CinematographyRamchandra P. N.
Edited byRamchandra P. N.
Release date
  • 12 November 2016 (2016-11-12) (KIFF)[1]
Running time
45 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The film maker sets off to Hyderabad after student boycott of classes has ended at the University of Hyderabad. As a part of a documentary film-making workshop, the participants have to visit, observe, write and film at a crowded place within the campus called Shopcom, where students hang around after classes. It is also the center of the protests on the Rohith Vemula issue. As the participants read out what they have observed, they can't but bring out the issue of their deceased colleague and the sadness and bitterness associated with it. A group of singers at Shopcom sing a protest song that was written in a different context by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, an actor in Mangalore, Saumesh Bangera, reads out the last letter of Rohith Vemula, his suicide note.[2] and on blank screen, portions of the article written by journalist Sudipto Mondal named 'Rohith Vemula, an unfinished portrait' are read out.[3]

Production

When Rohith Vemula hanged himself in a hostel room on 17 January 2016, the immediate cause and the events leading up to the death came into sharp focus and got nationwide attention.[4] This documentary film seeks to supplement this aspect. Ramchandra decided not to use video recorded by the students during the workshop or amateur footage shot by protesters, to avoid producing a workshop film or a protest film, and instead to strike a reflective tone, representing various points of view.[5]

Release and screenings

The film was premiered on 12 November 2016 at the Kolkata International Film Festival. The film was the official selection in competition section in the Long Documentary category at the 10th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala.[6]

Reception

The film looks at the three generations of the Vemula family and deals with how over the centuries we have been looking at the issue of Dalits.

The Hindu in its Sunday edition has describes the film as uncomfortable.

"Against this peaceful, even nonchalant, setting are visible the faint silhouette of a face and a dark crop of unruly hair as we hear Vemula’s last words. This juxtaposition is deliberately uncomfortable. It makes the reality of what is being read out and the general sense of indifference and injustice hang even heavier. Odd angles and the frequent use of a black screen add to this jarring visual experience, an instance of form mirroring content."

(Source: The Hindu)[7]

The New Minute too describes the film on similar lines.

"The 45 minute documentary captures protests too, but as an observer and not participant. The uncomfortable camera angles and shaky focus are deliberate - this is not a film you're meant to sit back and watch."

(Source: The News Minute)[8]

Certificate of exemption at IDSFFK

The Unbearable Being of Lightness along with two other films, March March March, directed by Kathu Lukose and In the Shade of Fallen Chinar, directed by N.C. Fazil and Shawn Sebastian, was denied an exemption from certification from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India [9] at the 10th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) that was held 16–20 June 2017 for the subjects that they had chosen and thus were denied screenings. There were widespread protests and parallel screenings held in various places. The government of Kerala registered a case at the Kerala High Court against the order.[10]

The court squashed the exemption order with regards to The Unbearable Being of Lightness stating that it was illegal, in November 2017. [11] Subsequently, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the organizers of IDSFFK, screened the film at the other film Festival they conduct, the International Film Festival of Kerala at Kochi in March 2018. [12]

References
  1. "Bengal Welcomes World Cinema - Kolkata International Film Festival 2017". www.KFF.in. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  2. "My birth is my fatal accident: Full text of Dalit student Rohith's suicide letter". IndianExpress.com. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  3. Mondal, Sudipto. "Rohith Vemula - an unfinished portrait". HindustanTimes.com. Retrieved 13 March 2017. Did a lifetime of unequal treatment add to the conditions at the university in leading Rohith to take his own life? "His family story haunted Rohith all his life," Riyaz says. "He faced caste discrimination in the house where he grew up. But instead of succumbing, Rohith fought it out. He broke many barriers before he got to the final stretch, his PhD. He gave up when he realised he could go no further.
  4. "Hyderabad University suicide: Rohith Vemula hangs himself in campus, student unions protest - Firstpost". www.Firstpost.com. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  5. Ramnath, Nandini (10 October 2016). "It began as a workshop at HCU, and it became a film about Rohith Vemula and caste". Scroll.in. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  6. http://idsffk.in/idsffk_2017.php%5B%5D
  7. Chakraborty, Sucheta (20 May 2017). "Chronicle of a suicide retold". Retrieved 27 January 2018 – via www.TheHindu.com.
  8. Rajendran, Sowmya (13 June 2017). "For Rohit Vemula: Filmmaker uploads film online after I & B Ministry refuses Censor Exemption".
  9. "Show and Tell". IndianExpress.com. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  10. "Kerala to implead in ban on films - Deccan Chronicle - DailyHunt". DailyHunt.in. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  11. "HC quashes denial of exemption to docus".
  12. "HC=Regional International Film Festival of Kerala ends; film buffs hail fete".
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