Film and Theatre: The perennial art of pursuing truth

Dimapur, May 26 (EMN): For a society like the Nagas’ – more prone to stumbling onto spiked walls than arching bridges – the distinct possibility of finding reconciliation within the twin art of theatre and film-making was the central attempt of yet another instalment of the Morung lecture series here at Dimapur on Friday.

The lecture was an initiative of the The Morung for Indigenous Affairs and Just Peace, and The Morung Express (one of the Nagaland-based English dailies). As resource persons, the organizers had assembled the award-winning filmmakers, Senino Yhoshu and Sophy Lasuh, and the brainchild behind Dreamz Unlimited, Tiakumzuk Aier.

The lecture was based on the topic: The arts (film and theatre) for social change. According to Sophy Lasuh, filmmaking was all about the ‘pursuit of truth’ – the perennial principle that defines all genuine form of art.

Filmmakers, she said, were simply storytellers seeking “for truth (with)in the idea” while conscious of the fact that “truth” could manifest and exist in more forms than one. The key was to present all narratives as objectively as possible, she said.

Objectivity, she suggested, was easier to employ in independent projects as opposed to ones sponsored by government agencies or others. In the context of Naga society, she said that the filmmakers were also confronted with the hard choice of suppressing certain information simply to ensure the safety of their sources/characters.

It must be noted here that both Senino Yhoshu and Sophy Lasuh – thus far – has been engaged at making documentary films as opposed to ‘commercial/fictional’ films. And the ‘pursuit of truth’ – in its many layers – could only be applied when those behind the camera were objective in their presentation of stories, she suggested.

She also said that the creative limits of filmmakers ultimately gets culled when working under sponsors, especially government agencies whose purpose was ultimately to tell only their side of the story.

This sentiment found resonance in the statement of her one-time partner, Senino Yhoshu who was of the view that sometimes filmmakers make films/documentaries simply because “we want to and do not care about whether people will watch it or not”. The implication, of course, was that such freedom could only be found in independent projects.

Interestingly, she also suggested that while making documentaries, ‘you do not always get what you are looking for’. Since the past few years, the ‘art scene’ in Nagaland has changed drastically, she said. “So these are exciting times for Nagaland, at least in the art scene”.

While the duo of Senino Yhoshu and Sophy Lasuh spoke mostly on the visual message contained within films and documentaries, Tiakumzuk Aier, the director of Dreamz Unlimited talked about the impact of “sarcastic dialogues and punch-lines’ employed in his productions.

Dreamz Unlimited, as he pointed out, was an immediate result of a theatre workshop conducted by the National School of Drama, New Delhi, in 2008 at Dimapur.

But the absence of any theatre in Nagaland back then – which, by the way, is the case even today – meant that Dreamz Unlimited performances were limited to 4-5 minutes in a given programme or event.

This ‘compact space’, according to Aier, forced him to focus more on ‘dialogue’ than the artistic aspect of theatre performance. And thus was born the Dreamz Unlimited of today – ‘compact’ and biting in its satire. None of the Dreamz Unlimited members, he shared, were professionally trained.

Delivering the concluding remark, Dr Akum Longchari, editor of The Morung Express, shared that ‘artiste is a state of mind’. What separates an artiste from a performer or an entertainer, he said, was “consciousness”.

When a performer or an entertainer becomes conscious of the context of his/her own people, he/she becomes an artiste, Longchari said. Theatre, especially in playback theatre, could be employed to help people traumatised by violence cope with their realities.

Playback theatre is a form of improvisational theatre in which audience or group members tell stories from their lives and watch them enacted on the spot. This way, he said, the spectators are elevated to spec-actors.