Farming the Revolution by Nishtha Jain (2024)
On 15th August 2024, as I packed up in the early hours of morning, I wondered why I accepted well known documentary filmmaker, Nishtha Jain’s invitation to watch her latest film, “Farming the Revolution”? I was tired and wondered what the film would show that one has not already seen on television new channels and social media?
My folly was not to realize that Nishtha was not inviting us to see something but to experience it. THE REVOLUTION! As the congregation of farmers unfolded on the screen, lensed by Nishtha and her cinematographer and co-director Akash Bansumatari, the difference between media images meant for mass consumption and cinematic experience became clear. The former is informative and lacks nuance, while the film “Farming the Revolution” was full of miniscule details of how thousands of farmers left their villages to protest the draconian, pro-corporate farm laws unleashed onto them by an insensitive deaf and mute government. The government did wake up finally to the 16-month protest of the farmers and repealed the laws.
The film focuses on everyday life of farmers at the camps on Delhi-Punjab-Haryana. From daily ablutions to cooking hundreds of chapatis, distributing pamphlets, organizing meetings and singing odes to Bhagat Singh and Pash. The political awareness of the farmers, of not just about our country but of situation, across the world was an eye-opener. One has traditionally associated the people of Punjab with resilience, love, warmth, a fighting spirit and a large heart, and Nishtha’s film brings out all of that in its runtime of 105 minutes, a film that is emotionally moving and inspiring. What a mammoth task it must have been for Nishtha and her Paris based editor Giles Gardner.
To go through hundreds of hours of footage diligently shot over months weathering the weather and police bandobast and arrive at that optimum rhythm that is emotionally compelling and cinematically purposeful is no mean achievement. And “Farming the Revolution” does that beautifully. The sound design of the film by Neeraj Gera subtly evokes the daily grind of the farmers and music by Florencia Di Concilio is equally evocative of the mood of the farmers’ protest.
No wonder the film has been winning awards at international film festivals, ever since it premiered at Hot Docs this year, winning the “Best International Feature Documentary Award” and the “Special Jury Award” at IDSFFK, 2024.
The standout aspect of the film is its non-didactic approach. Nishtha’s camera and point of view makes no judgements for us but leaves it to us to arrive at our own response to one of the largest public protests. Nishtha uses a multi character narration approach in the film thereby making it their story, not hers, albeit seen subjectively through her lens. The three characters Gurbaz Sangha, Veerpal Kaur and Joginder Singh Ugrahan contextualize, comment and provide deep insight not only the political aspects of the massive protest but also the cultural ethos of the people of Punjab that in my view was the driving force of such mass mobilization.
Gurbaz was preparing to immigrate to Canada in search for a better life. At the protest sites, he finds himself doing things he never did at home – cooking, building shelters, managing a protest stage, learning to give a public speech, mobilizing and organizing. In his tent, we witness a growing brotherhood. The challenges of the movement have thrown men together in a much more intimate way than before, bringing out their tender, caring sides.
Veerpal Kaur, and her older sister Beant Kaur have made the protests their priority this year. Associated with the farmers’ unions for years, they help mobilize women from their area. For their family, the movement goes beyond protesting the farm laws, they’re clearly nurturing the seeds of a new, egalitarian social consciousness. The film clearly delineates the role of women in the protests.
Joginder Singh Ugrahan, the third key character and one of the biggest leaders of the movement, has a revolutionary outlook. The man hardly sleeps; he has been working tirelessly for the last 30 years to bring together farmers, landless workers, women and youth. He doesn’t believe in electoral democracy. ‘The governments have to be made to work for the people and not the other way around,’ he explains.
The stories of these three characters aptly buttressed by voice-over narration and some other interviews drives the film forward, as the film covers several days of the farmers’ protest. The film seems like a diary account and thereby in my opinion the most significant document of our times, where in the midst of a pandemic an entire community took on the establishment and did not relent till the seat of power blinked!
Just Cinema Editor and independent filmmaker Sharad Raj spoke to Nishtha on her art of documenting and Nishtha gave some insightful answers. Here is the interview:
1. How would you define a documentary?
For me, a documentary is a subjective take on actuality.
2. There are kinds and kinds of documentaries from Nanook of the North to Mati Manas, where do you place your aesthetic approach in the realm of documentary cinema?
My approach is not to replicate but to interpret actuality. However, in terms of style, I feel more affinity towards Mani's Kaul's Mati Manas than Flaherty’s Nanook of the North.
Be it an exploration of farmers on a picket line, a century-old factory or photo studios the documentary for me is an investigation of the human condition. My films embrace the 'Leela' the play of life. Here hope and grief, love and heartbreak, beauty and ugliness, heroism and betrayal co-exist. I approach a documentary in the same way as I would fiction. However, I don’t write dialogues for my protagonists and I hardly ever give directions to my protagonists, how to move, what to say. Instead, I record glimpses of their lives which I string together to create a narrative. It's collaborative work. I've been fortunate to work with great cinematographers like Rakesh Haridas, Deepti Gupta and now Akash Basumatari. So much of the film depends on the cinematographer's ability to capture the documentary moments, which cannot be repeated. For my first film, City of Photos, I wrote a script based on my recce and research but usually, the situations are dynamic, the lives of characters are constantly changing and we have to adapt while filming. Instead of seeking perfection in beautiful shots, I seek truth through my characters. My films breathe, walk, run, and dance. Most importantly, they show the aspirations and desperations of ordinary people.
I feel an acclivity to the Third Cinema movement rather than Hollywood or European auteur documentary which emphasizes purity and rigour. I'm not Brahminical in my approach, there's no higher or lower form, or subject. Working with tiny budgets for my early documentaries, I developed my style, often shooting in domestic settings or neighbourhoods. I'm interested in the quotidian – in ordinary people, in everyday activities. Yet my films are deeply political, and rooted in the people.
3. Robert Bresson says,” show what cannot be seen without you.” How do you think this maxim applies in the world of 24x7 television coverage and social media, reels et al?
The factual or the activist documentary is facing a real challenge in these times, but not the kind of subjective documentary I make where the subject is not the film. The art of documentary involves choices in casting, lensing, camera movements, editing and sound design. These creative decisions make the film unique.
4. Funding and production apart what are the other challenges you face as a documentary filmmaker?
Since the advent of affordable digital cameras and editing software, people have managed to shoot and even edit. But the biggest snag remains distribution. Indian broadcasters or OTTs don't show documentaries, and theatrical release is next to impossible, especially for a political documentary. So, we are highly dependent on selections in film festivals, and screenings in cultural venues which can be limited.
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