“We and Some Dogs Were the Only Ones Out on the Streets!” Says Maisam Ali About His Cannes Film

Ladakhi filmmaker Maisam Ali speaks to Film Companion’s Anupama Chopra about his debut film In Retreat, which was the first Indian entry to Cannes Film Festival’s ACID sidebar (Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema). Ali, who spent his formative years in Ladakh, opens up about the unconventional portrayal of the region in his film. “For me, it was important not to have those [typically beautiful] images, because those images are touristic and don’t have real expressionistic value,” he said. “I’m trying to do a personal film, so it will have my own personal gaze.”

Ali continued: “I didn’t want to show wide shots or things like that. Even the decision to shoot at night was one of these radical decisions. I don’t want to show beauty.” Ali also speaks about the difficulties of shooting the film at night, while still managing to create visually evocative frames. “It was very cold. We were the only people out on the streets, we and some dogs! And nobody cared about permissions or anything like that, we were just shooting.”

Watch Maisam Ali’s full interview with Film Companion here: