Thursday, September 30, 2010

And he said.......... "Knowledge is Good" :)

It's the existential debate. Art for art's sake ? On those lines...visual content for the sole purpose of entertaining the public or empowering them? Educating and enlightening them of realities they would be otherwise unaware of? I am fighting for words here, partially excited with the endorphin rush I am presently experiencing thanks to the developments of this evening and also because days like this one make me want to thank my stars (and my sister! and of course my own decision to pursue a Masters) for bringing me to Newhouse, to Syracuse University and well the US!

The Human Rights Film festival at Newhouse School opened tonight with 'The Response': a 30 minute film based on actual transcripts of trials at Guantanamo Bay. Stellar performances by all especially Asif Mandavi (from The Daily Show ) and wait for it...Peter Reigert! Now for those of you who are wondering why that actor's name is followed by an exclamation mark, Peter Reigert was one of the lead characters in the iconic film 'Animal House' (1978 directed by John Landis). If I was back in India watching this film, I perhaps wouldn't have got the cultural significances, subtle political/literary commentary and the brilliant screenwriting. I did because I watched it in Robert Thompson's 'Critical Perspectives in TV and Film' class this summer and I am so glad I HAD to take it. It opened up a whole new way of critiquing, analysing and viewing visual content like never before.

Coming back to 'The Response' (http://www.theresponsemovie.com/) and what this film aimed at doing in terms of debating the US policy ( post 9/11 suspected terrorists were denied fundamental rights of defending themselves granted to 'military' combatants under the Third Geneva Convention. I am not an expert on the subject although I did get the gist so I highly recommend looking up these on the internet). Here I am - listening to human rights advocates, activists, a Captain from JAG (NOT the TV series silly! I mean THE U.S NAVY JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S CORPS) the producer of the film - one of only three TV and Film Grad students to attend the screening and panel discussion amidst 200 other law students and I found myself thinking "Did I do the right thing by leaving Journalism and the Broadcast News industry behind? Am I deluding myself with the idea that I can tell the kind of stories that need to be told through mainstream TV and Film by walking down the path a Producer/Director/Screenwriter would take? And if I do, which way do I go? East coast Independent film/ Documentary or West Coast Development/ Feature Film and TV series?

So I wait for the panel discussion to end and I speak to Mallika Dutt to get an idea of what Breakthrough is about and if I can write to her to get a better sense of whether people like me work with Human Right advocate groups to create their visual campaigns etc. And then I contemplate approaching Reigert but I am almost too shy, so I am being egged by a friend about making 'that conversation'. I hesitate for a few moments, feel very stupid for not making the most of every opportunity I am being presented with and I act on my impulse at this very epiphany. I turn around and walk straight up to him, introduce myself and ask him for 2 minutes of his time.

That 2 minutes turned to a 25 and Mr Reigert and I spoke about Downtown NYC theatre artists vis-a-vis Hollywood actors, his experience with both New York and LA, why it would make sense to go one over another and I got a whole lot of advice I had not anticipated I would ever have heard from an actor here at Newhouse :D I am so glad I did. Thank you Mr Peter Reigert. And he was so happy to hear that atleast Jessica and I had got his joke when he started his commentary in the discussion with the one now almost iconic corny line from the opening scene of Animal House: 'Knowledge is Good'. As I shook his hand to say goodbye, I couldn't help but reiterate it.

So what did I take away from this evening, from the panel members' debate, from the movie and from my rendezvous with Peter Reigert. Well I can only do justice to that question by quoting him for somethings he said today. As an actor he would have played any one of the roles in The Response with "as much integrity" as he played his (the only Captain on the tribunal convinced that the suspect was to be absolved of all charges) Peter also said that as aspiring artists "in the end you do your job and you do it well" .

I hope to use my craft and skills in mainstream TV/Film so as to fund and create visual content on themes that need to reach a larger audience. And I intend to keep that promise regardless of what lies ahead. Sometimes it really is about "doing your work, paying your bills and then fueling your passion for the things you believe in" but most of all as Peter said, I continue to remind myself of this:

"Am I who I say I am
Or am I what I do?"

It's absolutely splendid to be back in school!


Sunday, September 26, 2010

***Pachelbel Canon***




Almost three weeks ago, I was sitting under a dimly lit dome, its ceilings adorned with stain glass frescoes tinged red and black. It was my first day at Central Park West that day....and as they played Pachelbel Canon, I found myself rooted to my spot. I couldn't breathe and I wasn't aware of the 40 odd people gathered around those student musicians.......



The music rose to a crescendo and I was suddenly conscious of how much I belonged to a moment which I could not have, a moment in an alternate universe where you stood by me here at CPW on a cold Saturday evening... an evening we could have had no matter how tough the distance would have proved....perhaps if you hadn't given up and said good bye. And as goosebumps made their way onto my skin, a tear and then more rolled down my cheek. You were miles away so I took out my phone to just have you share that moment with me. It didn't matter that you didn't see this work ...it didn't matter




But I made that call half-way through and put my cell phone away......not knowing if you would understand or even try to.....