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Deepa Mehta's WATER - 2006 closing night
Written by Filmshi
Monday, 13 March 2006
The line to the California theatre went around the corner as the crowds
of filmmakers, press, pass and ticket holders waited for the doors to
open for the closing night event. Buzz was building about the "must see
films" that ran during festival and the choices for Audience Award
winners that would be handed out just prior to the special screening of
Deepa Mehta's new film, WATER.
The Whirlitzer Organ greeted us through the gates and after all were seated, Kathleen Powell, President of the festival, said ‘thank you' to the audience, the board and, of course the Sponsors, whom she noted gave more this year than in any year prior. Powell also made an intelligent request: "I am told that I don't ask for support enough from our audiences. So I'll ask now. If you've enjoyed your time at CineQuest please give to us...but there's more than one way to contribute so I'll also ask you to give to us in another way. Give to us by making choices. If you are going to see a film and you have a choice to go to the Camera Theatres or another theatre, chose the Cameras. If you're eating out go to Blake's Steak House or Eulipia, if you're buying a plasma screen, chose Panasonic..." the list went on. But her point was one larger than the scope of her obligations to sponsors; her suggestion addresses the issue of contribution in general. The audience, with it's presumed interest in emerging media, can do more to support - we always can, and supporting businesses that support our chosen causes serves many at once.
The Audience Award Winners and the Jury Prizes were many. A list follows this coverage.
After awards, Powell offered further thanks to the patrons and introduced WATER. Distributed by Fox Searchlight, WATER takes place in India in 1938. Concerned with the ostracized caste of widows in India, the film begins with a quote from the Laws of Manu, regarding the plight of the widow following the death of her husband. We learn in the film that a widow has three options at her disposal, she may throw herself on her husband's funeral pyre, live as an chaste outcast and never marry for fear of being reincarnated in a jackal's belly, or, with the acceptance of her in-laws, she marry her husband's brother. Women in this society are wed in pre-arranged unions, and frequently have weddings when they're too young to remember them.
The protagonist of WATER is Chuyia, a 7-year-old widow given to this house of orphaned women by her father. Through the film we aren't specifically called upon to identify with her plight or the struggles of the other widows, as it seems even the women are as alienated from themselves as they are from each other. Social stigmas and conflicts of faith plague the women, as the most devout of the widows, Chuyia's surrogate mother of sorts, asks the gentry and fiancé of the most victimized of the widows, why the laws are so harsh to women. His response is that the laws are about money and property and they're only dressed to look like religion. A follower of Ghandi, the fiancé is our model of a modern perspective: our litmus test for the period's foreign morality.
The after party was a flutter with discussion about the film. Held at Blake's Steak House, and filled with fascinating guests, the party went on well into the night. Discussions of the victimization of the widows, and the nature of victim hood were all about the upstairs of Blake's. Many were provoked by the epilogue inter-title stating that by recent census there are 34 million widows in India, presumably living in these historic conditions of chastity and exclusion.
Interestingly enough, the closing of this festival with a film about a foreign culture seemed a rather pointed choice. Not only did the film inspire extensive discussion among the guests, it reiterated the festival's emphasis of "Maverick Filmmaking". Their interest in independent film is not one that rates independence by its budget or its maker, but rather by what was referred to at the party as "creative ambition". Great and worthy credit was paid to Michael Rahbel, the festival's longtime programmer, who sheepishly took his praise for a job well done, and thanking each person, seemed to appreciated every moment.
JURY PRIZES Artistic Vision ABOUT THE LOOKING FOR AND FINDING OF LOVE (Helmut Dietl) Special Ensemble Acting WEST WITTERING AFFAIR (David Scheinmann) Best First Feature TRUTH OR DARE (Jan Martin Scharf, Arne Nolting) MAVERICK SPIRIT JURY AWARD: COUS COUS Narrative Short BEFORE DAWN (Balint Kenyeres) Best Short Animation JAHN & MICHAEL (Nash Edgerton) Best Short Documentary RADIO GRITO (Michael Seely) Best Short Narrative LUCKY (Avie Luthra) Best feature Documentary AMERICAN BLACKOUT (Ian Inaba) Global Vision Award KISSED BY WINTER (Sara Johnsen) New Vision Awards: Feature: ASYLUM (Nigel Roffe-Barker) Short: DIRTY MARY (Stuart Rogers) Student Short: SON UP (Andrew Shearer, from Chapman University)
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS: Short: FUMI AND THE BAD LUCK FOOT (David Chai) Feature Doc: ANDREW JENKS, ROOM 335 (Andrew Jenks) Feature Comedy: CHALK (Mike Akel) Feature Drama (Tied): A COLUMBIA (Ryan Byrne) THE GOLD BRACELET (Kavi Raz)
SPECIAL DIRECTOR'S AWARD: MY CHILD: MOTHERS OF WAR (Angeliki Giannakopoulos)
Festivals 
