[Filmfestivalresearch] Mumbai (Variety)

[Jean-Michel Frodon]

Mumbai Festival Bows to Pressure, Drops Pakistan Film Classic
Patrick Frater <http://variety.com/author/patrick-frater/> Asia Bureau Chief

   -
   <https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/mumbai-festival-drops-pakistan-film-1201890718/&title=Mumbai%20Festival%20Bows%20to%20Pressure,%20Drops%20Pakistan%20Film%20Classic&sdk=joey&display=popup&ref=plugin&src=share_button&app_id=278816682243900>
   -
   <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/mumbai-festival-drops-pakistan-film-1201890718/&text=Mumbai%20Festival%20Bows%20to%20Pressure,%20Drops%20Pakistan%20Film%20Classic&via=variety>
   -
   <http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/mumbai-festival-drops-pakistan-film-1201890718/&title=Mumbai%20Festival%20Bows%20to%20Pressure,%20Drops%20Pakistan%20Film%20Classic>
   - 0
   <http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/mumbai-festival-drops-pakistan-film-1201890718/#respond>
   -
   <http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/mumbai-festival-drops-pakistan-film-1201890718/#share-more>

[image: Mumbai Festival Bows to Political Pressure,] October 17, 2016 |
01:24AM PT

The Mumbai Film Festival has scrapped its planned screenings of “Day Shall
Dawn” (aka “Jago Hua Savera”,) a 1958 Pakistan
<http://variety.com/t/pakistan/>-made movie that it had previously selected
and announced in its retrospectives section.

“Given the current situation, the JIO MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with
Star has decided not to programme ‘Jago Hua Savera’ as part of the Restored
Classics Section,” the festival said in a brief statement circulated to
Indian media and emailed to *Variety*.

The announcement was not posted on MAMI’s festival website, and the website
was quickly edited to remove any reference to “Jago Hua Savera.”

The decision appears to be a reflection of the social and political
tensions between India <http://variety.com/t/india/> and Pakistan since a
border incident a few weeks ago. As a reaction to the military skirmish the
powerful Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) called on its
members to stop working with Pakistani talent and technicians until the
current political tensions ease.

Separately, political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena called for all
Pakistani artistes to leave India and that their films be banned.

On Saturday, a non government organization called the Sangharsh Foundation
filed a police complaint against the festival for its proposed screening of
“Day Shall Dawn.”

The release of several current Indian films is now in doubt as a result of
the unofficial ban and the growing social tension. One of the highest
profile of those, Karan Johar’s “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,” has a censor’s
release but the Cinema Exhibitor’s Association is trying to block it
because one of its stars is Pakistani.

“Day Shall Dawn,” directed by AJ Kardar, is a black and white drama about
the everyday life of fishermen in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), and was
considered an early example of experimental film making in Pakistan.

The film was recently digitally restored and screened this year in the
Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival. It has subsequently
had screenings in London and Edinburgh.

U.K. newspaper *The Guardian* recently wrote: “Curated sensitively,
screenings of ‘Day Shall Dawn’ could foster dialogue between pluralist,
progressive forces within the [Pakistan and Bangladesh].” In another twist,
the film’s production was a rare example of India-Pakistan collaboration.
Jean-Michel Frodon
http://blog.slate.fr/projection-publique
Professeur associé à Sciences-Po Paris
Membre du comité pédagogique de SPEAP
http://blogs.sciences-po.fr/speap/
Professorial Fellow, University of St. Andrews. Scotland
Professor of Global Cinema and Creative Cultures, IGCCC
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/globalcinema