Film Festival Film #5: Autumn

[bcholmes]

Autumn (or Harud) is the debut film of an Indian actor, Aamir Bashir. It takes places in the Kashmir province in India, where the mostly Muslim population wants independence from India. The main character, Rafiq, is a young man whose older brother has disappeared. Possibly, he went to Pakistan to train as a militant. But, more likely, he was "disappeared" by the security services.

The film is pretty good about depicting a community living under constant oppression. There are armed soldiers and checkpoints and random bombings and chronic underemployment. Rafiq is an intense guy who wants something to happen -- he's not sure what. But he needs some kind of closure on this stuff in his life. At the beginning of the film he tries -- and fails -- to join militants in Pakistan.

The film is good, although the heavy tone can be a bit monotonous. The film doesn't beat you over the head with "The Point". All in all, a good film, but possibly not stellar.

The Q&A afterwards, on the other hand, was possibly one of the most interesting I've seen at the festival. There was a large percentage of Indian people in the audience, and their questions were interesting, nuanced, informed (in a way that so many festival audiences often aren't). Incredibly interesting discussion.