March Programme

One Day In Cochin

Malayalam/French/English
2008/94 mins.

Director: Tom Peirce

One Day in Cochin interweaves nine narratives set in Fort Cochin, Kerala, South India. The characters, living in or passing through Fort Cochin, win, love and lose. But whatever their destiny, they are all enriched by what they learn along the way.

ALAMEEN's family lost what precious little they had in the tsunami. But even a tragedy on that scale could not diminish the little popcorn-seller's never-say-die spirit.

ANNA is a journalist in search of the story that will make a difference to her city. A city that every day seems to edge towards an environmental disaster.

ABDUL AZEEZ is a tourist guide who has shown visitors 'God's Own Country' for decades. But when will he find his own 'Jammat'; his heaven?

ELENA and JEAN-MARIE are a French couple settled in Fort Cochin with their two-year-old son. Elena sees little point in continuing what she does after a particularly ill-fated day, until she gets a lesson in persistence from Alameen.

JACK CHANCE, a broker in the Iraq 'Oil for Food' scam, is on the run from the West. But it seems unlikely that he will find the anonymity he seeks if he leaves it in the hands of the two local, and very inept, property agents.

JAMES and CATHERINE are tourists whose paths cross. Perhaps they can each give a little of what the other is looking for.

PIP, of Indian and British parentage, is in Fort Cochin to trace her roots. Will a chance encounter with an old Englishman, who has spent most of his life in Kerala, ground her?

Cruising couple BILL and CRISTELLE decide to take separate tours of Fort Cochin when the QE2 docks. But is that wise?

CHITRA meets foreign couples every day as part of her work at the smart Brunton Boatyard hotel. If she's learnt anything, it's that one must find one's own life partner. Or is the traditional way better after all?
One Day in Cochin; everything can change in a day.

Statement by the Director

The intention of One Day in Cochin was to create a seemingly fictional drama from documentary elements; to tell the stories of a group of characters rarely seen in cinematic roles in an honest yet admirable form; to make the ordinary appear extraordinary. There is only one professional actor in the cast; everyone else plays themselves. Even the narratives are based on their real lives and experiences; the property agent, the homeless boy, the journalist, backpacker, biker-girl, laundry-man, environmentalist and so on. They draw their energy from their interactions with each other and the happenings in the unique place that is Fort Cochin. The 90-minute film spans a day in their lives and explores their hopes, their acts of kindness, their frustrations and their camaraderie. Because the actors are real people, the stories are clearly identifiable with most people, everywhere. Abdul Azeez has had a precarious existence as a tourist guide, showcasing the charms of 'God's Own Country' (Kerala), and is hardly aware that the industrial changes taking place in modern India are beginning to disfigure the attractions. Ironically, as he goes through another unprofitable day, he believes things will improve only when his son leaves for a better job in Dubai. However, he may have reason to cheer yet. Al Ameen has been forced to grow up too soon because the tsunami took away his chance of a normal childhood. But the cheerful, optimistic outlook of the hardworking eight-year-old comes as a lesson in life for a down-at-luck expat actress. While One Day in Cochin interlinks many such touching and humorous stories, the message it wishes to convey is universal and humane.
Tom Peirce, Director