Home Is Distant Shores Film Festival 2020: Dawat, Frank and Kass, Jazz in Wakanda and Hoài (Ongoing, Memory)

Day 2 of HIDSFF ventured into family dynamics. Previously, the conflict was with a state. The problem remains the same with a change of focussing more on personal relationships.

Directed by Juhi Sharma, Dawat follows a young Bengali-American woman, Ishita (Sita Sarkar), trying to break away from her family's expectations. Her mother has outlined her career path, "I think going to Columbia would be good for you." A Master's degree from there is all she envisions for her daughter. Moreover, she is also fixed on selecting only a Bengali groom. Ishita has other plans as she is looking forward to work in the film industry. UCLA has accepted her application for its Producers program. For Ishita, California is the destination.

All she has to do is tell her mother about it. But that is one hurdle. The timing cannot be worse. The house is gathered with family having a dinner party. Revealing such revolting ideas in front of others is considered embarrassing in Indian households. Try to have an open discussion and face sour, judgmental faces from the relatives. After that, be ready for a rant from your parents. Dawat doesn't fuss over these moments. They can be felt by those who have found themselves in such situations. Like you could get why Ishita's mother talks of Bengali groom after seeing Kamal (Nafiul Bahri), Ishita's friend. Or the dreadful silence which follows after Ishita's revelation.

Dawat though is not solely about breaking out of preconceived shackles. What Juhi and writers Pooshpol Islam and Suswana Chowdhury explore is the mother-daughter dynamic. Similar to the variety of dishes on the table, this relationship has different facets to it. The mother takes time to accept that the child can make the right decisions. The realization may take some time. But the vexation is temporary, the tenderness is permanent.

Frank and Kass, a 6 minute (approx.) short, is one of the most powerful films running in the festival. Frank (Hidekun Hah) has been laid off. With no work on his shoulders, he heads back to his parents with his young daughter Kass (ViviAnn Yee). In an early scene at a shop, Kass is forbidden to select a sunglass of her choice. Directing her focus to the counter, she finds a family loading plenty of stuff. While driving, Frank rolls down the windows. "Hey, I am freezing", says Kass. She takes out the glasses Frank had refused to buy earlier. Thinking she might have shoplifted, he tells her to return them.

Frank's lectures land as a form of nagging, annoying the hell out of Kass. She locks the car when he runs to pick up the glasses she arrogantly threw out. Kass doesn't understand the logistics behind Frank's decisions. For all she knows, what's wrong with getting a pair of sunglasses? Kass doesn't understand how the loss of income has tightened the budget, forcing them to shift to Frank's parents' house. Frank, like any father, doesn't want to burden the child. Writer, editor and director Norbert Shieh shows a reflection of parental sacrifices, lifting the veil on the innermost pains of the adults. Who says being a grown-up is easy-peasy?

In Jazz in Wakanda, a half-African and half-French black woman enters a restaurant with her daughter. I mentioned colour and ethnicity because she is questioned about her accent at the counter by a white woman. The insolent behaviour is underscored by her chewing gum. You can almost read the black woman's wish of making her choke on the gum. Perhaps, it was me. Her name is Julie (Djaka Souare, also the director of the film) and the daughter is Jazz (Jazz Hardrict). After taking their milkshake Jazz wonders, "Can your accent be American mom?" She informs it is who she is.

The discussion on accent sparks a conversation on slavery which is initiated by her daughter. "I want to be a doctor and liberate my people," says Jazz. "Because a long time ago, some white people took my ancestors from Africa. Put them in shackles, put them on boats and brought them here to be used as slaves" she adds. Julie is shocked and rightly so. These words from the tongue of a 7-year-old are unusual. More than just shock value, this scene shows scars of slavery that refuse to heal even after a long time. The after-effects of such monstrous events are never forgotten and shouldn't be. But a 7-year-old must also be made aware of the light at the end of the tunnel. Julie dials her dad who informs Jazz about Antigone, "Mom, dad says Antigone liberated her people too."

In the background, Julie's voice-over narrates "The African Boy" to Jazz and by extension to us. "But mom, will you tell me the end one day?" inquires Jazz. The end could be seen as the conclusion to "The African Boy" or to the discrimination based on colour. What we want is a better world where one can walk freely on the roads without any boundaries, dancing to the song of their choice.

Hoài (Ongoing, Memory) tells the story of a young Vietnamese American queer woman, Hoài (Ngoc Anh Hà), in the most stylish editing pattern. The cuts take you from a beach to a house to a bed, in no particular order. This is not a film concerning with woman's "coming out of the closet" or accepting her romantic status. The queerness is not an issue. Her girlfriend's involvement in various protests has irked Hoài's father. He warns her to stay away from these people. Hoài's girlfriend wants Vietnamese to have more radical politics due to the Vietnam War. It's not that Hoài or her father have no political views or anger within them. After the death of his wife, all he has is Hoài, and he is not willing to lose her.

Director Quyen Nguyen Le underlines the restrictions on Vietnamese who are unable to voice opinions in fear of life-threatening danger. In an emotionally swell scene, his father acknowledges, "If this is not our homeland, we just have to deal with it. But those white people, they're not native either." Quyen Nguyen Le raises his voice on behalf of many Vietnamese facing trouble in America. No one should be bullied about living in a place. It is as someone points out: humans borrow land and the sky. He doesn't own it.

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