By Mehru Jaffer

It is a difficult choice every October between making it to the movies or wandering in the Vienna woods that are converted by autumn into an endless canvas of impressions in different shades of yellow, rust-red, and some green. But the temptation to remain afloat in the womb of theatres is equally instinctive. The breathlessness lies in anticipating life, in some other light.

Hans Hurch, director Viennale describes cinema at its most beautiful as a tear that rips through the world, a fault line at which people’s stories, their feelings and hopes become visible. Viennale is the city’s annual film festival that is celebrating its 40^th year with nearly 150 entries from around the world, except India. Hurch conceives the two-week film festival as an experience beyond conservative utilitarianism and boastful wastefulness, beyond art and the market. And even beyond “good taste” a concept that he feels is born out of fear and contempt, and invented to elbow out the rough and the reckless.

More and more critics claim that the Viennale is one of the most successful and best programmed festivals in the world and its fast growing fame rests on its insistence that the public remain its main star attraction. The event does not dependent on famous Hollywood guests just to keep it alive. Here the sale of tickets and catalogues bring in more money than sponsors that are responsible most of the time for giving that crude commercial twist to all cultural events. The Viennale does not need stars to attract funds as the government foots more than 80 percent of its budget. The films finally shown here have much more in them than those that find their way into theatres. The festival sees its function as a window from where the work of innovative young directors from the German speaking world and outside can be seen. And if the rapid sale of tickets are an indication than the public seems to want only more of this kind of cinema.

It is the cheeky confidence of the Viennale that is perhaps responsible for the screening of Etre et Avoir (To Be and To Have) a documentary about schools in rural France instead of a star studded feature film on the opening night. Filmed by Nicolas Philibert, one of France’s most important documentary film makers, Etre et Avoir is a fascinating comment on the life of little children who meet every day in the same place to learn about places and people far away.

Films from China, Taiwan, Iran and even Central Asian countries have been a great favourite at this festival and Japanese fever is very obvious this year. In the midst of such joyousness it is most unfortunate that not a single film from India is showcased here. Most of the organisers are of course aware that India makes more than 800 films, a year. It is a well known fact that the annual turnover of the Indian film industry is more than a billion dollars, the budget of a single film can run into millions of dollars and ticket sales add up to over 100 million in just a week.

Andreas Ungerboeck, program consultant says that the organizers did see several Indian films but none were found suitable for the Viennale that describes a good film as one that is reckless. Hopefully Bollywood can do a Laparwah for the Viennale.