Home Is Distant Shores Film Festival 2020: Mu and the Vanishing World, No Traveler Returns and (t)here

The 2020 edition of Home Is Distant Shores Film Festival started its first day with Yombe Films: Between Two Worlds. Virtual film festivals are a new experience. I recently attended the Nightstream festival, and now I am here. In a non-pandemic world, I would have moved physically, shifting locations from one place to another. Now, I just need to enter another website. HIDSFF is free and can be viewed from anywhere provided you have an Internet connection (of course). I will put the link at the end for easy access.

The first film I watched was from directors Jessica Leung and Paco Beltrán titled Mu and the Vanishing World. It opens with a woman, on a train, looking out from a window. Her voice-over takes us back in time, beginning with her pregnancy, at the age of 19. The father is out of the picture because his family considers the woman too poor for them. By the way, this woman is Mu. We find Mu in the rural areas of Thailand. She is a Kayan woman. With the news of pregnancy, Mu feels ashamed and decides to take a knife with her to the mountain. She thinks of ending things. Before she could take any drastic step, the baby "communicates." Mu feels the baby in her belly, asking her for the gift of life. They make a pact to fight together to make their lives worth living.

The women of the Kayan tribe wear coils around their neck. It is not a decorative ornament but a technique to protect the women from abductions. The coil makes them look like a dragon. This distinguished look prevents them from roaming freely. Some businessmen use them for tourist attractions, barring them from peddling through different destinations. Look at the irony of the rings. It took them out of one trouble and imposed another on their head (or neck or feet). There are many rituals in their cultures. One of them allows the elders to see signs in the rooster bones. Mu does not see anything. It does not matter. She wants freedom from the refugee camp and plans to move to America.

An interesting thing about documentaries, or in general films, is that you get to know of different traditions. In Mu and the Vanishing World, we come to know about the price of leaving one's mother. Mu literally had to pay, 20 coins, before being able to move away from her mother. If one circle (brass coil) keeps you trapped, then another circle (coins) sets you free. A man has an interview at the UN. He promises to take Mu and her child away from the camp. That is if he passes the interview. But remember the mountain story before, how Mu and the baby had promised to look after each other. It is then up to them to claim their freedom. After resettling in the USA, her notion, that of all white men being rich, breaks. Mu finds the importance of work. She gets a job as a translator, thanks to the tourists who visited the camp. She may have found a better lifestyle, but what about the others?

Mu, after returning with her son, finds out the condition to be gradually getting worse. The roads have degraded, preventing the arrival of any tourists. And that means a lack of money. Which means a shortage of food. When asked why not join others to the new village, Mu's mother displays reluctance. She plans to live and die on the same soil. With many fleeing away, the Kayan culture and tradition is also under threat. Mu observes how upon revisit to the place she felt more like a tourist. Her culture is dying. She and other young Kayan's have to keep it alive.

But that is true for almost many obscure cultures. The minorities run from their tribe for better conditions, forgetting ancestral traditions while fitting in. This documentary highlights one of many such cases. We need more Mu's to protect the vanishing world.

Ellie Foumbi's No Traveler Returns plunges into the horrors of unemployment. An African immigrant, Yves, struggles to adjust life in America. Mu got lucky with job and everything but was away from the family. Yves is with family but is not finding any employment opportunities. "Don't worry. They're always hiring," says the uncle. The auntie is not so smooth. She openly accuses the President of hate. Hate towards the immigrants. There is a protest on the table to stop inputs of such ideas into Yves mind. Further, he is assured of the not-so-terrible situation by pointing towards the house and the food. But something else is troubling him within. His "pitiful look" is dismissed as the case of a broken heart. Surely something severe is afoot.

No Traveler Returns is shot in black and white. The shiny lights above Yves' head conflict with his inner turmoil. The expensive Aritzia shop overshadows his vanilla outfits. The multi-storeyed, well-lit buildings and towers look down on his significance. The self-obsessed crowd around give no acknowledge to him, as he sits in the middle trying to be noticed. Ellie Foumbi punches us with subtlety. The stares, the monologues paint a harrowing portrait. But No Traveler Returns is optimistic, showing positivity in minute considerations. All you need is a hand wave, just small gestures to help fellow beings go through life. You never know how your smile may cheer up a stranger having a bad day. Baby steps, baby steps.

A 25-year-old Rhea (Leah Khambata) faces a dilemma. She can either go to India to her grandmother who is at a hospital or continue staying in the US. Her mother assures granny would want her to stay and make a career. If she goes, the chances of her coming back are less. But she also desires to be with her granny. What to do? In between all this, she realizes she needs to get Jeera (Cumin). Rhea hurries to the store. "Just five, just five minutes please please please", she requests the owner. The owner is Indian too. His name is Sameer (Soumendu Bhattacharya).

Naturally, they start conversing. We find out Rhea's purpose in the country. She aspires to be an actress, "I want to do old Hollywood movies you know like Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland type?" She may be versed with Hollywood classics but fails to recognize Madhubala on the TV screen. "She used to be Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood", the shopkeeper enlightens. Directed by Snigdha Kapoor, (t)here can also be seen as a commentary on the modern Indian audience who is all Hollywood, failing to connect with their own industry. I know people who merely show-off referencing Citizen Kane, All About Eve, etc. They have no interest in visiting Jewel Thief, Woh Kaun Thi?, etc. Let's reserve this discussion for another day.

I liked how Rhea kept forgetting things almost immediately. She is in a mess. Confusion surrounds her in every direction. She forgets about the food at the shop and then about the groceries she went to purchase. I chuckled when her boyfriend mentioned her getting a part in, wait for it, Sikhs in the City. Notice minor expressions like the movement of hands or eyes which make the characters feel more into the moment. But above all, (t)here is about being human. It is about being selfless and empathetic. Thank god that's common knowledge between all the ages.

Link to the festival - https://www.homeisdistantshores.com/

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