Director of Extreme Nation, Roy Dipankar, Responds To Multinational Corporations

Yesterday Pakistani grindcore band Multinational Corporations released a statement about their displeasure with certain scenes being included in Extreme Nation.

Today filmmaker Roy Dipankar released a statement on the official Extreme Nation page in response.

Though we were included in Roy’s response “Your platform comes across like just another clickbait fake controversy raker for a quick activism fill”, we still consider it an excellent documentary that we thoroughly enjoyed watching several times and thus have promoted the film both in our capacity as a news platform and on a personal level. In the complicated world of South Asia, the film does a great job presenting the complex nature of life in South Asia through the lense of extreme music. Like any extraordinary documentary, Extreme Nation also raises some profound topics that is excellent fodder for further conversation and discussion while drinking tea with your friends or at university level debates. All of this is what makes it a phenomenal viewing experience that we continue to promote to this day.

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“Late in 2013, when I started developing the the film there was hardly any interest for extreme metal reg the subcontinental underground. I realised then and there this would be a passion driven cinematic perspective of ‘every side’ inclusive of genres and characters, though a thankless job. But now as I speak in 2020, this film has garnered awards and accolades, huge fan love and mail from across the world. And instead of taking note of this, a certain faction of people have been spreading misinformation and abuse with a hurried sense of judgement.

All this, of all places but social media, with a quick trial, a virtual tribunal court and sporadic incriminating behaviour to baseless, laughable, infantile claims that I have been made aware of through various sources. It looks like everyone is waiting for a response from me with popcorn in hand. However I’m currently busy with projects and a zero-tolerance policy towards general whataboutry. If you have a scroll down on this page you will only find dignified posts and commentary on the underground.

1. Individual Safety concerns// threat perception// security
It is not just the safety concerns of the members of Multinational Corporations but also of bands from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and India, where utmost care was taken in editing the film to eliminate any security loophole in depicting the characters. Every scene of Hassan Amin from Multinational Corporations (hereby to be addressed as HA) was weighed in before it made it to the film with his written consent.

“Breaking of trust” is a wide term to insinuate someone who has toiled for the safety of his characters.

There is lengths and lengths of footage that has abuses by HA being hurled at the then ruling political party, political leaders, roadside cops, and even unsuspecting passerbys shared by HA himself. None of them made it to the film. You can clarify the same by rewatching the video call scene again where Mr. Amin mentions “gariyo wala scene delete karna”. Yes there were requests from HA on editing those parts and that has been done. Anyone who’s seen the film will know. What sort of “break of trust” are you exactly talking about?

2. There is more questionable and jeopardizing content on HA personal feed and pages for him to fall in trouble than everything put together in the film.

3. HA has always been abusive and contemptuous even during the filming process which is evident with his everyday behaviour. There was always some sort misguided contempt towards me.
Having said that, and being a music industry person, I hold cordial relationships with Pakistani artists, both metal and outside of it.

4. The film was being promoted on the MxCx official till 7th April 2020, PR person Zoheb having full knowledge about it. Why the sudden rage after two months?

There are posts by the official page mocking other characters in the film by using illegally downloaded clips of Extreme Nation. (attached)

5. Of course I will block HA or any person who would be abusive towards me or anyone for that matter. Remember the incident of putting up a clip from this boring documentary by some pages with intentions to bully a person from the scene that were weeded out after Facebook and Instagram cyber cells neatly filed in by team ExTNTx?

6. These are worst times already and if Hassan were to wish the worst to a person during this eon, definitely you need to recover from past trauma. Because apart from being just a character in the film, you are also the Line Producer for the Pakistani segment. You should be owning up and proud of the film instead.

7. HA was offered a free all access pass to represent Extreme Nation and attend Wacken Open Air 2019 where the doc was being screened. We waited for your “safe passage” out of Pakistan before we released the film. That is the amount of consideration and care the producers and me had for you.

8. I would also like to call out the knee jerk behaviour of a media platform like Unite Asia that shared the “statement” which is actually abuse and social media bullying. Unite Asia has quite a few posts praising the film and me. You guys should have at least checked with me (other side of the story which is actually a bare fact). You have rendered some terrible disservice to the efforts of Extreme Nation which is now not just myself but a legion of people worldwide of all creed and color who back the film.
Your platform comes across like just another clickbait fake controversy raker for a quick activism fill.

I still don’t wish the worst for the likes of HA as I am not still distant from human kindness, nor I’m delusional nor carry misguided hatred and speech against anyone in the “scene”.

This film, like my all other films will remain a work of art for me. Being an independent filmmaker in itself is suicidal and morbid. I let my work do the talking.”

Producer/ Director
Roy Dipankar

This is not a clarification mail of any sorts. There won’t be any posts related to this subject hence forth and any snide or unscrupulous behaviour will be banned.”

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