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Narratives of Littin
BHAWANI CHEERATH
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Miguel Littin, chief guest of the IFFK, is one of the architects of the ‘New Cinema’ of the Sixties in the Latin American region.
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The IFFK will screen his latest film ‘The Last Moon.’
Miguel Littin is not an unfamiliar name to Indians who keep track of developments in the Latin American region. When the Bengali translation of Marquez’s ‘Clandestine in Chile: The adventures of Miguel Littin’ was released at the Ko
lkatta Book Fair, the spotlight fell on him once again for more than one reason. It had been translated into Bengali by none other than the present Chief Minister of Bengal Buddhadev Bhattacharya and the title was, ‘Chilite Gopone.’
The filmmaker is back this year as the chief guest of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK)that begins today. Known for his contribution in the building of the ‘New Cinema’ of the Sixties in the Latin American region and for the clutch of films that relate to important aspects of Chilean life, Littin’s films had little appeal for the establishment.
Born in Chile to immigrant Palestinian parents, early in his career Littin incurred the wrath of the Augustus Pinochet regime and was permanently exiled.
Clandestine in Chile
Twelve years later when the government permitted some of the exiles to return, his name did not figure in the list. Driven by the urge to be back in Chile, he undertook a six-week clandestine trip in the guise of a Uruguayan businessman. All the while he documented the many faces of his country and shared his experiences with the Nobel Laureate Marquez.
Among the films etched in public memory are ‘Jackal of Nahueltoro,’ ‘The Promised Land,’ ‘Sandino,’ ‘Tierre del Fuego,’ and ‘A Palestinian Chronicle.’ The IFFK will screen his latest film ‘The Last Moon,’ set in Palestine. Portraying the closeness between two friends, one a Jew and the other an Arab, the director zeroes in on the lingering Israeli-Palestinian crisis and analyses the reasons for the schism.
Shot under the surveillance of the Israeli authorities in the West Bank, Bethlehem and the Dead Sea, the film trails the tensions between the Jews and the Arabs. It has been said that this film “introduces a new face of Littin who can look at tragedy with a twinkle in the eye.”
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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