Border villages are often the first point of elimination in any armed conflict between two neighbouring countries. But, in the absence of violence, what is the oft-invisibilised and vulnerable life like in a border area?
In 2015, when Samarth Mahajan’s town, Dinanagar (Punjab), 10 miles from the India-Pakistan border, faced a terrorist attack, his mother Rekha sounded happy on the phone that Dinanagar was finally on national TV. “Most stories about border areas create an image of army men, terrorists, but no common people. I come from a border area and have lived through experiences which don’t fit the general perception of borders,” says Mahajan, an Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur graduate, who'd seen people going to Dera Baba Nanak, near his town, to see Pakistan’s Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib through binoculars.
Mahajan’s third film, Borderlands, a co-production by All Things Small and Camera and Shorts, that had travelled to Cannes Film Festival in Marche du Film in 2020, has released on YouTube. His earlier documentary The Unreserved (also on YouTube), where he and his crew travelled the length and breadth of the country in trains’ General dabbas, won the National Award for Best Non-Feature Film Audiography in 2018. Borderlands encompasses a four-part journey: to the Pakistan border from Gujarat to Punjab, Bangladesh border, Nepal and Bhutan border, and China-Myanmar border. One common theme surfaced: “borders have their own economy, and affect livelihood”.
This 65-minute documentary is not a story of military valour and jingoism, what popular cinema feeds us with. Featuring five languages, it presents a mosaic of six stories (including Mahajan's mother Rekha's) couched in separation and remembering. Mahajan makes the border subjects heard, and himself just listens in. The power of personal stories trumps all national/political discourse. How civilians cooperate with the Nepalese army to nab traffickers. A young Bangladeshi singer, lured with an audition for the reality TV show, is trafficked and is languishing in a jail-like shelter. A Pakistani Hindu refugee girl in Rajasthan “studying to be a doctor, has to unlearn the Arab script, and learn Devanagari. Her dream got complicated because of crossing the border.” A woman married this side of the border can meet her parents, and exchange gifts, on the other side on the Bengali New Year (15 April). A Manipuri filmmaker's quest to keep memories alive. “At this point of India’s history, we need to hear stories of people from the grass roots, explore life beyond the domain of violence and politics.”
Mahajan, 32, has been running a #30Days30Docs programme on Instagram over the last month, in which he has been recommending one compelling documentary daily, from around the world, that are available to watch freely online. In continuation with that, Mahajan recommends the following five documentary films about borders:
5 Broken Cameras / 2011 / Palestine
For the uninitiated about the Israel-Palestine conflict, this documentary by Guy Davidi and Emad Burnat is a mandatory watch to get a sense of the power dynamics on this border. This Oscar-nominated documentary is a co-direction between a Palestinian and an Israeli filmmaker, which affirms my faith that collaboration can happen between the oppressed and an ally from the oppressor's side. It's an extremely personal film. The events are happening in co-director Burnat's own village, with his friends and family being involved in the protests against land encroachment by the Israeli establishment. The title derives from Burnat's own five broken cameras over the five years of his shoot. He even shoots his children, one of whose first words turn out to be "bullet" and "army". It moving and heartbreaking because the human cost of war becomes too real in those scenes.
Ironically, while the film's nomination at the Oscars irked a few Israelis, their media went overboard with claiming it to be an Israeli film. When Palestinians started taking offense to this claim, the co-directors clarified that it's “first and foremost a Palestinian film”. Watch it on YouTube.
Had-Anhad / 2009 / India
Shabnam Virmani's documentary Had-Anhad (Bounded-Boundless) is unique in the way it presents the 15th century mystic poet-saint Kabir and music as elements that unify India and Pakistan. Virmani's search for Kabir's meanings begins in India but ends in Pakistan with her meeting singers Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad (Coke Studio's Kangna fame), who are funnily possessive about Kabir when it comes to sharing teachings with their Indian counterparts. Filled with memorable music and cross-border encounters, the film has the power to make one believe that things can be better again, provided there's a political will. Watch it on YouTube.
Welcome to Chechnya / 2020 / USA
American investigative reporter, non-fiction author, and filmmaker David France's film plays out like a cross-border thriller where a group of activists risk their lives to help persecuted queer citizens of Chechnya leave Russia for safer avenues. The courage with which the film was shot is unparalleled. Given the risk involved, a lot of the film was shot using hidden cameras. As the identities of the characters could not be revealed for their safety, the film uses deepfake to conceal the real faces of those featured. The documentary makes for a unique ethical and cinematic choice.
Baraka / 1992 / USA
Directed by Ron Fricke, this poetic documentary is groundbreaking in the way it unfolds. There's no apparent narrative or voice-over. Yet, it seems to explore the themes of nature, life, religion, and technology through a collection of expertly shot scenes in 24 countries across six continents. It all comes together to portray how the human experience transcends all borders. Critic Roger Ebert famously wrote this about the film, "If man sends another Voyager to the distant stars and it can carry only one film on board, that film might be Baraka." Watch it on YouTube.
Wagah / 2009 / India
This short documentary by Supriyo Sen uses the innocent gaze of a child protagonist to bring out the absurdity of the border and also takes us back to a time when masses on both sides of the Attari-Wagah border, near Amritsar on this side and Lahore in Pakistan, would get as close as possible to the gate to see people on the other side. Wim Wenders, one of the greatest filmmakers alive, called it a manifesto against any wall that divides people.
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