CHENNAI : Director Maisam Ali’s ‘In Retreat’ is all set to have its world premiere in L’ACID (Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema), the parallel, independent sidebar in Cannes. It will be the first Indian film to play there. The unconventional film is set in Ladakh and plays with the ideas of time and space, geographical expanse, and the sense of belonging and disconnect. The themes are explored through a middle-aged man who returns to his hometown after a long absence but gets late for his brother’s funeral.
A product of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Ali is the batchmate of Payal Kapadia whose debut feature ‘All We Imagine As Light’ plays in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival this year. He spoke to CE about all that went into the making of In Retreat.
Excerpts:
Debut films are supposed to emerge from a personal space. Does it hold true for In Retreat?
The idea came to me in the film school. My forefathers, originally from Kashmir, were traders. They lived in Ladakh but would also travel for trade to parts of Central Asia and China. My father did MBBS in the 80s, went to Iran and practised there. I was born in Iran and then we moved back to Ladakh. I moved out of Ladakh because of studies, work etc. From all this came the ideas of home and the feeling of disconnect. I also remember seeing somebody like the lead character when I was in fifth or sixth standard. Somebody who had come back. I heard a few things about him, how he was roaming around, just trying to make small talk, and I felt a kind of sadness for him. Sometimes, small things create a big impact. The memory stayed with me. Maybe I felt this person was a distant version of myself.
More than the story, the film is about ideas. Is it the kind of cinema that excites you?
I wouldn’t go so far as to say cinema of ideas. I’m just trying to create a larger experience. Also, in the film, there is a sense of disconnect which I like. The disconnected scenes have their own identity, yet they are connected, while still disconnected. Then there is this girl who is doodling and a person roaming in the shadows, being there but not being there. What is the relationship between them? They are also connected in some sense, in time.