Devshree Nath
Noor Islam, Devshree Nath (2019)
Devshree Nath is an independent filmmaker from India, where completed her film studies from the National Institute of Design. She has always been interested in telling the stories which can impact our society––such as with her short film Noor Islam.
Devshree Nath participated in an exclusive interview with Filmatique as part of Talents 2021.
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FILMATIQUE: Why did you decide to make this Noor Islam and tell this story?
DEVSHREE NATH: I researched about the citizenship crisis that was happening in Assam (in northeastern India) and it really interested me. I felt that such a tragic story, in a beautiful place like that, needed to be told. Furthermore, even my father and his family were migrants! I connected the dots and could feel the pain my father felt about leaving his home.
At first, I visited the northern part of Assam and there, the situation was quite normal. But when I visited the southern part of Assam, I realized that this was a huge problem and that people were in pain, and that this situation needed to be addressed and that filmmaking would be a great instrument to do so. Finally, I met Noor Islam, the personification of all the chaos and tragedy happening in Assam.
FLMTQ: It’s a very interesting yet tragic story that many people are not aware of. Could you talk a little bit about the Registry of Citizenship?
DN: There are a lot of migrants from Bangladesh in India, and you can easily walk from one border to the other. Because of this, not only does a lot of criminality happens, but people keep migrating from side to side.
Due to this, a huge process started back in 2015 to register citizens as Indians. People like Noor Islam lost their papers and certificates in floods, and as they were not educated enough to know about these things—they don’t have electricity or bank accounts, for example.
In my opinion, these people are going through torture. There was even a case of a 6-year-old kid being called at the center to prove his identity, even though his whole family was Indian. How can he be a migrant? These kinds of errors are common, and people are suffering from that.
Noor Islam, Devshree Nath (2019)
FLMTQ: That’s why I think the movie is so heartbreaking to watch. You see this person, Noor Islam, trying to reaffirm his identity, while gradually losing it. In addition, he can’t remember much: the name of his relatives and his date of birth especially, as you mentioned, because a lot of these people ended up losing their documents. How did you come across with Noor Islam?
DN: When I went to Assam, I connected with a lot of activists, and they were kind enough to help me and take me to various people. Noor Islam is already considered a foreigner, and right now, he is on the verge of being separated from his family and ending up in jail. Right now, at any day, any official could come and take him to custody.
FLMTQ: You used a lot of wide shots to evoke the feeling of isolation, insecurity and fear, and how small Noor Islam felt in contrast with the beautiful gigantic Indian landscape. The movie is very sensorial, and you can really feel what he is going through. Was that something you wanted people to feel?
DN: Yes. Noor Islam is a very tough man, but he is giving up. He is just living for his family. The individuals are the ones who suffers. For instance, his father’s name is something, but if you read the documents, it is something else. So even if there’s any small spelling mistake, the officials will discard it and ask for a “proper” document.
About the wide shots, my cinematographer was very successful in capturing that. The Indian landscapes are insanely beautiful, and I really wanted to show that. You feel like the landscape is going to eat you up as a monster, because you feel that pain of what is happening there for the past five years. I really wanted to bring the tension in that beauty.
Noor Islam, Devshree Nath (2019)