Felm Bekessah: a voice for the oppressed
By: Islam Abdain
Exploring some themes from the recently made short film Felm Bekessah (a film without stories) by Kamalan Bebagar.
After watching this film for two times, I have become convinced to write what I have understood.
Some words for Kamalan Bebagar :
A challenger of commercialized Balochi cinema , a symbol of resistance for conventional entertainers.
Felm Bekessah, it is not just a film but it is a reflection, a wound and a witness of Baloch society.It is the story of people,told without telling,of a tale heard,without it being spoken. Kamalan Baloch, a young Baloch film director, a story teller,a writer and documentary maker, has already made his mark in Balochi cinema,one of his tremendous and artistic work is Malaar and his recent work is this short Balochi film Bekessah.
For the first time in the history of Balochi cinema,Kamalan has removed the dialogue,the characters, the structure to reveal something deeper:the soul of a land,the ache of its people and defiance in just living.
Kamalan is not backed by studios but by bigger hearts among Baloch nation.
The film Felm Bekessah
This Balochi short film, Felm Beskessah explores a cinema where stories are not narrated through conventional narrative structures but through the language of imagery, movement, silence and visual symbolism .
Additionally Felm Bekessah , without pre-planed written stories,without characters,without dialogues,without specific settings and plots.yet with just visuals,graphics and pictures,tell the stories of many. It gives voice to the voiceless,embody the unheard dialogues, and portray the unseen landscapes.
Bekessah characterizes the unknown and unrecognized characters,it tells the dialogues of unheard, capture the unseen setting of harsh mountainous lives of those Baloch,promising not to leave their homeland even living under storms,destruction,poverty,and wars of generations.
Traditionally,film Felm Bekessah broadcasts the traditional structures of the Baloch people,exploring wars, not always of weapons but of survival,the wars to find shelters in their own homeland,to wander in their own rivers.
Additionally , this film portrays the struggle to live in a lifeless and a silent world.
This film is a work of experimental cinema,which is driven by emotional and visual rhythm, which is the work of abstract and symbolism ,it does not follow a linear plot and the film is less about characters and more about collective experiences.
However, Felm Bekessah is made to express what words cannot express,it is made to express the trauma,displacement and cultural erasure of Baloch which are hard to be into linear terms plots.
Importantly,it is made to resist the dominant narratives,where main stream media often silences the indigenous and oppressed communities.
Likely, it is made to preserve the rich cultural insights and liberal traditions of Baloch people, living without religious differences for centuries. Through capturing the images of Baloch mountainsous land,showcasing the religious rituals and sounds and portraying traditional balochi music are the archives of Baloch cultural memory.
Broadcasting the sounds and news of BBC Radio Sariaben is a symbol to explore the intellect of Baloch forefathers and their interests in wars,history,the global and cultural change and the discussions and debates of scientific cultures among elderly Baloch people.
Lastly, for Baloch conventional films makers and artists,especially those working under censorship,silence or threat, for them it is a silent stream that cannot be politically suppressed. Precisely this film witnesses the Baloch resistance for their land and their cultural heritage preservation and it becomes a tool of resistance through art.
