 "How Rama Rau found her calling away from Bollywood")
Unable to break into the Mumbai film industry due to her lack of connections, Rama Rau moved to Toronto 15 years ago. Now her latest film, League of Exotique Dancers, has notched up the unique distinction of bagging opening night honours at North America's biggest documentary film festival.
Hot Docs, held in Toronto, is one of the most high profile showcases in the world for film makers in the documentary genre. Its 2016 edition, which runs from April 28 to May 8, opened with the world premiere of Rau's film, a lavishly mounted feature-length documentary on past stars among burlesque dancers, or as one of the women unapologetically proclaims in the film, strippers. The film captures the past and present lives of a group of aging dancers as they prepare to be inducted into the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.
Rau says the selection is an honour for her, but also for the festival. "One always dreams of these things happening. At the same time, I think it's a good decision, because the film is very entertaining. It has layers, it's outrageous and I think it will have people talking about it for a long time," she says. "I also think the film deserves it, in the sense that the women in the film, they make the film really. So for us to honour the women in that way, I think it's absolutely deserved."
A self-described news addict and a bit of an activist, Rau says those factors influence her choice of subject for her films. "I generally know what's going on and I just veer towards certain topics like feminism or social issues like poverty. For me, it either has to touch upon race issues or gender issues, otherwise why bother, because every film takes two to three years to make. And if I'm not making a really meaningful film, then what's the point?" asks Rau.
Rau, who went to school and college in Chennai, was a copywriter in the advertising industry when she was bitten by the film bug. She quit what was then a high paying job and moved to Mumbai "to beg directors to take me on set for free". She spent three years in Mumbai as an assistant director with Black Magic Motion Pictures, working on commercials. "That's when I learnt everything about film I could possibly learn," Rau says. But she believed it would be tough to break into the film industry for an outsider, and moved to Canada to pursue her dream.
"There were a lot of things frustrating to me about living in India," Rau says. "My biggest ambition was to start making films and I knew that in India unless I was from a film making family, I wouldn't really have a chance... Bollywood is very closed, especially to women film directors who are not from film making families."
Starting from scratch in Toronto, she worked at a film equipment supplying company, using her spare time and available gear to make short films. She attended film making workshops and volunteered at film festivals, and found the industry more welcoming here. "I think film making is one of the most democratic industries because it's solely by your own determination and talent that you get by. At the same time, of course, there's also a lot of push for diversity," she says of her early days in Canada.
Her background as a copywriter worked to her advantage when it came to writing proposals, pitches and treatments. And while she was still dreaming of making feature films, Rau found herself drawn to documentaries, especially given her interest in news and activism. "When I came here, I did look around and said I need to see where I can get in," Rau recalls. "And documentary was very open, and it's also more accessible because the budgets are a little lower. It's more open to women directors. So I think it's a natural fit that I moved into documentaries."
After the League of Exotique Dancers premiere at Hot Docs, Rau will be busy promoting the film at festivals around the world. "We have a really big festival round coming up. We've been invited to Munich. I'll be going to England next month and then Australia and I think this whole year it will do the festival rounds all over the world. It's a very marketable topic," she says.
But Indian audiences are unlikely to get a glimpse of it, she admits. "I don't see the burlesque film playing at all in India. It's uncensored, too risque. I refuse to have it censored, so I don't think India will touch it."
Her earlier films have played at a couple of Indian festivals in Mumbai and Goa, but Rau says she has not really explored the market despite her previous films' connections to India.
Those include The Market, a film that looked at how the illegal trade in organs exploits slum dwellers in India, and Losing My Religion, which explored faith and religious tensions in the south Asian communities in Canada.
She is currently working on a script for a feature film to be set in India. "It won't be a Bollywood film because I don't belong to Bollywood," she says. "I would love to make a Bollywood film but I don't know when my chance will come."
Hot Docs, held in Toronto, is one of the most high profile showcases in the world for film makers in the documentary genre. Its 2016 edition, which runs from April 28 to May 8, opened with the world premiere of Rau's film, a lavishly mounted feature-length documentary on past stars among burlesque dancers, or as one of the women unapologetically proclaims in the film, strippers. The film captures the past and present lives of a group of aging dancers as they prepare to be inducted into the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.
Rau says the selection is an honour for her, but also for the festival. "One always dreams of these things happening. At the same time, I think it's a good decision, because the film is very entertaining. It has layers, it's outrageous and I think it will have people talking about it for a long time," she says. "I also think the film deserves it, in the sense that the women in the film, they make the film really. So for us to honour the women in that way, I think it's absolutely deserved."
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For the Chennai-born, Toronto-based Rau, it's her second appearance at Hot Docs. Her film, titled No Place to Hide: The Rehtaeh Parsons Story, premiered at the film festival last year. It dealt with the issue of cyber bullying, centred around a case that dominated headlines in Canada in 2013 - that of teenage school student Rehteah Parsons who committed suicide after she was allegedly gang-raped while drunk and her photos circulated on social media.
A self-described news addict and a bit of an activist, Rau says those factors influence her choice of subject for her films. "I generally know what's going on and I just veer towards certain topics like feminism or social issues like poverty. For me, it either has to touch upon race issues or gender issues, otherwise why bother, because every film takes two to three years to make. And if I'm not making a really meaningful film, then what's the point?" asks Rau.
Rau, who went to school and college in Chennai, was a copywriter in the advertising industry when she was bitten by the film bug. She quit what was then a high paying job and moved to Mumbai "to beg directors to take me on set for free". She spent three years in Mumbai as an assistant director with Black Magic Motion Pictures, working on commercials. "That's when I learnt everything about film I could possibly learn," Rau says. But she believed it would be tough to break into the film industry for an outsider, and moved to Canada to pursue her dream.
"There were a lot of things frustrating to me about living in India," Rau says. "My biggest ambition was to start making films and I knew that in India unless I was from a film making family, I wouldn't really have a chance... Bollywood is very closed, especially to women film directors who are not from film making families."
Starting from scratch in Toronto, she worked at a film equipment supplying company, using her spare time and available gear to make short films. She attended film making workshops and volunteered at film festivals, and found the industry more welcoming here. "I think film making is one of the most democratic industries because it's solely by your own determination and talent that you get by. At the same time, of course, there's also a lot of push for diversity," she says of her early days in Canada.
Her background as a copywriter worked to her advantage when it came to writing proposals, pitches and treatments. And while she was still dreaming of making feature films, Rau found herself drawn to documentaries, especially given her interest in news and activism. "When I came here, I did look around and said I need to see where I can get in," Rau recalls. "And documentary was very open, and it's also more accessible because the budgets are a little lower. It's more open to women directors. So I think it's a natural fit that I moved into documentaries."
After the League of Exotique Dancers premiere at Hot Docs, Rau will be busy promoting the film at festivals around the world. "We have a really big festival round coming up. We've been invited to Munich. I'll be going to England next month and then Australia and I think this whole year it will do the festival rounds all over the world. It's a very marketable topic," she says.
But Indian audiences are unlikely to get a glimpse of it, she admits. "I don't see the burlesque film playing at all in India. It's uncensored, too risque. I refuse to have it censored, so I don't think India will touch it."
Her earlier films have played at a couple of Indian festivals in Mumbai and Goa, but Rau says she has not really explored the market despite her previous films' connections to India.
Those include The Market, a film that looked at how the illegal trade in organs exploits slum dwellers in India, and Losing My Religion, which explored faith and religious tensions in the south Asian communities in Canada.
She is currently working on a script for a feature film to be set in India. "It won't be a Bollywood film because I don't belong to Bollywood," she says. "I would love to make a Bollywood film but I don't know when my chance will come."