The Fukuoka Film Festival Audience Award Winner – BOL [speak up] Audience Award for the 23rd Focus on Asia
Film Festival was announced last night and the recipient was BOL [speak Up]. Shoaib Mansoor’s 159
minute epic is based on the last testament of a woman awaiting the death
penalty. It tackles some weighty social issues and the director was on hand for
(an all-to-brief) post-award ceremony press conference to talk a little about
the how’s and why’s.
Fukuoka Film Festival Audience Award Winner – BOL [speak up]
How do you feel after
winning the Audience Award?
Well I’m very excited. You can well imagine the excitement
of somebody who has only made two films in his life. And both films came here
to Fukuoka and won awards. It’s a very rare achievement so I’m very happy. I’m
very thankful to the people of Fukuoka who like my work. Hopefully I’ll be
coming here again.
What was the message
that you wanted to express through this film?
As I said I wasn’t very excited about this film because I
don’t make films to win awards or to win critical praise. My main purpose is to
improve my society through my films. I want to educate my people. There are so
many things that they are doing wrong and as a result they are suffering. So my
main purpose in making films is to educate people. That is why sometimes in my
films there are a lot of explanations, answers to questions and to problems. I
don’t just raise questions. I think it is the duty of the filmmaker who is
making such films to offer answers to people. Just raising questions is not
enough. It could be enough in countries where people are very aware and
educated. But in countries like mine where people are not very educated it’s
essential to educate them. Not raise questions but to show them a way. They may
not agree right now but in times to come, maybe the next generation may find
these answers appropriate.
How was your
experience of working in television? Did you take on similar projects to your
films?
When I was working in television I was mainly aiming at
entertainment. I did music, I did shows, I did comedy, plays and drama also. My
main goal was to entertain people. It was after leaving television that I realized
that life was going away and that the lives of my people weren’t changing
really. I had to play a role really. Unfortunately the Pakistani film industry had
gone down a lot. So another purpose of my going into films was to revive the
film industry in Pakistan. The second most important thing to consider is that I
feel television is a very consumable commodity. It just vanishes very quickly.
Film has a larger impact and a longer life. So I selected films to extend my
message to people.
You ask that your face
not be shown in any media if possible. Could you explain your decision for
this?
Actually the reason is not for any fear of being recognized.
I have a much bigger message for the youth of my country. I want them to realize
the importance of work over fame. I want to tell them that despite avoiding
fame and being behind the scenes you can contribute through your work and to
the betterment of society. So the message to younger people is to concentrate
on your work rather than showing their faces and getting famous.
What part of your film
would you like audiences to pay attention to most?
All of it. Actually
as I said this film is not for an international audience. I made it for
Pakistanis. It is my people who are doing those wrongs [expressed in the film]
that I want them to correct. So it’s good also that outside Pakistan, in Japan
and in the countries that BOL was
released people have appreciated it, understood it and tried to feel the pain
that Pakistani women are going through. Mainly the film concentrates on the
conflict that is taking place between two classes. One class in Pakistan has
already undergone change and the other class is resisting that change and is
trying to keep their society backward. This conflict is really the subject of
the film. The father, who is the main figure in the film, represents the
fundamentalist class, the class that is regressive, that wants to keep the society
backward. While the elder daughter is representing the class who wants to go
ahead, to progress, to get education, to be able to work and not to be
restricted to their homes. This is the subject of the film.