Vancouver International Women in Film Festival
When: March 5 to 10
Where:Vancity Theatre
Tickets and info:womeninfilm.ca
With over 800 submissions it’s safe to say the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival (VIWFF) is doing fine thanks.
Out of that whopping number of films 47 have been chosen for the 14th annual festival on in Vancouver March 5-10 at the Vancity Theatre.
The festival is hosted by Women in Film and TV Vancouver, a non-profit that this year celebrates 30 years of promoting women working in different screen-based media.
This year the VIWFF is perfectly bookended with movies about women warriors.
The festival opens with the American resistance documentary Warrior Women about the work of Lakota activists Madonna Thunder Hawk and her daughter Marcy Gilbert.
From directors Christine D. King and Elizabeth A. Castle, this film looks at the mother’s and the daughter’s activism and their battle to protect the values of their Indigenous culture.
The festival then closes with the epic feature Swords and Sceptres: The Rani of Jhansi. Set in India in the 1850s this Swati Bhise film tells the true story of the Queen of Jhansi who led an army against the powerful British East India Company.
“This is just serendipitous we open the film festival with Warrior Women and we are closing the festival with a woman warrior,” said VIWFF executive director Carolyn Combs.
The VIWFF screening is the world premiere for Swords and Sceptres: The Rani of Jhansi, whose cast includes Rupert Everett, Derek Jacobi and Devika Bhise (who also co-wrote the script) as Lakshmibai, the historic Queen of Jhansi.
“A true historical strong woman. It is quite and empowering film,” said Combs. “It is an epic piece with beautiful cinematography and the beautiful, period costumes. It’s a beautiful film with strong performances.”
The lead and a co-writer of the film is Devika Bhise, Swati Bhise’s daughter.
Recently we tracked down Swati Bhise in Goa, India (she lives half the year there and the other half in New York City) and asked her a few questions before she headed to Vancouver for VIWFF.
Q: You have brought a lot of Indian arts to the Western World how good does it feel to bring a classical Indian badass woman like this to the screen and subsequently the world?
A: The journey and the product of this film feels deeply satisfying. It’s very important to have a real woman’s story brought to the global community in today’s day and age as our protagonist, the Rani, is an inspiration to all women and men. A real wonder woman from 1857! I did not need to conjure her.
Q: How did you come to this story?
A: I was a defiant little girl and my mother often chastised me saying, “who do you think you are, The Rani of Jhansi taking on the whole world?” The Rani’s character fascinated me and her story is very popular and well known in India, both from oral tradition and history. Every little girl in India looks up to her but does not know her real journey, her trials and tribulations and what adversaries she had to undergo to stand by her convictions for a greater cause.
Q: The timing of this story seems so perfect what with people questioning the autonomy that corporations have these days. Did you feel that parallel with the British East India company while writing/making this film?
B: Both The East India Company and today’s corporations with their parallels of greed, power, money and dictatorial attitudes resonated with me. Corporations today don’t serve their shareholders and most of the time; take huge monetary benefits at the expense of the common man very much like the East India Company and their brazen attitudes.
Q: How does it feel to premiere your film at the Vancouver International women in Film Festival?
A: Honoured. I believe in the power of women to change the world, when they unite and celebrate each other’s work and ideas. Our film celebrates the message of womanhood and the many roles of the woman, which is why this particular festival is very relevant for our film, more than any other festival. This festival speaks for itself by the very title.
Q: As you probably know there is a large South Asian community in this part of the world. I am wondering what is it about Lakshmibai, the Queen of Jhansi that young South Asian women in today’s world can take away from her story?
A: This is not just for South Asian women but also for anyone who is female. The take-away of the film is that she did not need to exist only as a mother, wife, sister, or daughter, and did not rely on those relationships alone to assert her independence, free spirit and thought. She left behind a legacy where, without the help of social media, her name is synonymous with the word valour, independence and courage, and that is something everyone can take away from our film.
Q: You are a big proponent of mentoring. Do you see your work as a form of that and whom did you look to when you were a young artist?
A: I looked up to my teachers. I was trained by Dr. Sonal Mansingh, one of the greatest proponents of Indian classical arts as her first disciple. I learned the art of presentation and the discipline of delivering on timelines from people like her. Back then; knowledge was about getting the opportunity to learn with great teachers and follow-through after years and years of hard work. Today’s generation would greatly benefit from the old style of teacher-student mentoring.
Q: What is the most important advice or lesson a seasoned filmmaker like you can pass on to young female filmmakers just starting out?
A: Dream, work hard, be focused, structured, build bridges, work under veterans, but most importantly, believe in yourself. You alone can deliver your goals, and only then will others believe in you.