Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations are in full swing. As part of the celebrations, the Embassy of Germany has come out with a riveting short film titled ‘Walk of Courage’, which recently was screened to thunderous applause at the India Habitat Centre as part of the 2022 Habitat International Film Festival. The short, directed by Johannes Olszewski, offers a dynamic and atmospheric portrait of the bustling city of New Delhi, its people, and its history.
“I am very happy that we could show our short film ‘Walk of Courage’ at the Habitat International Film Festival. We are now trying to take it to other film festivals in India and we hope that we can spread it. I think it shows some beautiful pictures of India and of Delhi as I know it and love it and as the director Johannes Olszewski has come to know and love it,” rejoices Sebastian Fuchs, the spokesperson of the Embassy of Germany.
The idea for the short came into being when the director Johannes Olszewski reached out to Fuchs. “I started as the spokesperson of the Embassy of Germany in August last year and two things came together. First, the Ministry of External Affairs asked us along with the other embassies if we could organise an event to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence. Second, Johannes Olszewski contacted me in October and told me about his previous projects and where all he has gone to shoot with the internationally renowned slackliner Alexander Schulz. That’s when we thought of connecting Alexander with the best slackliners here in India and then we tried to do this together at a historic location for people to see in order to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence,” reveals Fuchs. “The Indian slackliners / trickliners, Mohit Tanwar, Megha Thiara, Adarsh Bhat, Dhruv Chakkamadam and Adhwaith Manohar, are in the centre of the short film,” he adds.
As for Olszewski, he was quite keen to capture Delhi as per his cinematic vision. “I wanted to create a cinematic portrait of Delhi. My goal was to set the tone with the wide shots in the afterglow of the evening, going through the night with all the colourful lights and noise, and then start the main narration in the magic hours of Delhi’s peaceful mornings. I still remember my first days in India very well. I was quite overwhelmed and also intimidated by some things — mostly by the pace of life and the traffic,” recollects Olszewski.
It was a major challenge for Olszewski to find the right narrative for a five-minute short revolving around a momentous occasion such as 75 years of India’s Independence. “Together with the screenwriters Cody Christensen and Luisa Buellesbach we read a lot of Indian poetry, speeches and short stories, trying to set the right tone. The final text is written in a way it can be understood as an analogy to Independence, but most of all it is a homage to taking risks in life and being brave, either as an individual or as a nation,” reveals Olszewski.
During the pre-production stage itself, it was decided that the film needs to have a celebratory quality. “We thought of making this a celebration. Now, slackliners walking on a highline may be very courageous but this per se is not celebratory. So we thought of bringing together India's creative people in a spirit celebrating Indian culture, Indian sports, and Indian art. So we teamed up with many creative people such as Mohammed Abood from Boxout.fm, Sagar Singh who is a creative artist, Yogesh Saini from Delhi Street Art, and a 14-year-old trapeze artist from Mumbai named Ganga who is the central figure of the film, among others,” explains Fuchs.
Olszewski, to his credit, was committed to creating an authentic project that highlights the close bond of friendship and cooperation between India and Germany. “By showing old and modern parts of India and by closely working together with the local slackline community, we were able to include a raw and modern sport, the values of which perfectly matched the principal goals of our project: Trust, friendship, togetherness, diversity and cooperation,” rejoices Olszewski.
While making the film the creative team had to deal with many challenges. The fact that the venue was Red Fort greatly intensified the task. “To gather all the permissions required seemed almost unrealistic at the beginning. Our undertaking was not about playing a concert next to the Red Fort or just organising some food stalls. We had to convince the decision-makers to let us rig a 30-meter-high slackline across one of the most important sights of India: the place where the country’s independence was declared. Besides this huge stunt, we wanted to include further artistic showcases, such as a live DJ setup, street artists, a slackline trickline, catering and, of course, slackline workshops for the visitors. But, Sebastian was making the impossible possible by simply believing in it,” recollects Olszewski.
Despite the difficulties, the resolve to do something different seemed to have made the impossible possible. “We wanted to do something that has an impact and that is for many Indians to see because that’s how we understand modern public diplomacy. Right from the onset we were quite clear that we didn’t want to do the usual diplomatic podium discussion. And so there was no location better than the Red Fort for something like this. But then it came with many challenges. We had to talk to the Indian authorities for permission. We talked to the MEA and we talked to the Archaeological Survey of India as well and they principally agreed that we can put a highline close to the Red Fort,” reveals Fuchs.
Realised during a day-long event held at the Red Fort on 26 February 2022, featuring Indian and German slackliners and artists, as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, Walk of Courage is much more than just a film. Walter J Lindner, Ambassador of Germany to India, and MeenakshiLekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, were also present on the occasion. “In general, it was never just about the film. The main priority was to curate a beautiful event that everybody could participate in for free. Secondarily, it was about creating a production that captured the soul of the shared event. The production of ‘Walk of Courage’ was very demanding, but I had the best team around that one could imagine. I really would like to express my thanks to Smriti Mishra of the Ministry of External Affairs and Navratna Pathak of the Archaeological Survey of India. Without their help and their trust, we could not have realized our project,” reveals Olszewski.
For Fuchs, it wasn’t just another work assignment owing to the emotional attachment to the project. “I think it was challenging at times. The process took its time and sometimes it required some extra effort, some extra meetings, calls and some extra location visits. It’s a project that I have been personally very invested in. Some of the slackliners and also Johannes and Alexander, they lived at my place for some time and the project really became a very big part of my life during that time. But given the feedback that we have been receiving I think it was totally worth it going the extra mile,” rejoices Fuchs.
Slacklining started in 1980 when two American climbers in the Yosemite national park in California looked for a new thrill and spanned their climbing ropes between two trees. Today, it is a fast-growing sport around the world with thousands of young people enjoying park life in cities in a new and exciting way.‘Walk of Courage’ puts a much-needed spotlight on the Indian slackline community.
“India has this big and constantly growing slackline community. It was a big honour for us to work together with the local slackliners. The Indian slackline community is very well connected and does amazing projects all over the place. I personally hope that more people see a chance in slacklining in the future, rather than a danger.It is a sport that I like to compare with meditation. It is calm, not harmful to the environment, deals with fears and has plenty of benefits also for the motor skills of children,” signs off Olszewski.
The author is an Indian critic and journalist who has been covering cinema, art and culture for over 10 years. Views expressed are personal.
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