IFFI GOLDEN JUBILEE BONANZA: A short film competition to delight filmmakers. Make a short film of five, six or eight minutes in any Indian language (including English) in 72 hours. (l to r) ESG’s Amit Satija (IAS, CEO, ESG), Subhash Phaldesai (VC- ESG), filmmaker Aditya Jhamble, and Dnyaneshwar Moghe (EC & GB member) unveil a poster for the competition
BY TARA NARAYAN
THE golden jubilee of the country’s prestigious International Film Festival of India is finally buzzing with more temptations! Here is one for film and technology enthusiasts. Make a short film of five, six or eight minutes in any Indian language (including English) in 72 hours and win a fortune. The theme of the film will be announced with the commencement of IFFI on the morning of November 23 but before that a workshop will take place in which contestants may learn a few useful tricks about making short films with digital technology, courtesy award-winning filmmaker Aditya Jhamble.
Mr Jhamble while speaking to media people observed that such competitions are very well accepted at Cannes festival and the thinking is that they “stretch the boundaries of creativity. It is a challenge to put a short film together in 72 hours for it takes tremendous team effort.”
Mr Jhamble said that the Mini Movie Mania Short Film Competition offers a lot of scope for creativity for GenNext thinking of making a professional career of filmmaking today which offers so many platforms. The Mumbai-based filmmaker confided that he himself was an engineer-turned-filmmaker and had no regrets.
Prize money of 1 lakh for best film may not sound like a fortune but the total filmmaking package has a total budget of8.9 lakh, and prizes of 50,000/25,000/20,000 will be awarded to categories of not just best short film but also best story, screenplay, cinematographer, editor, sound recording, background music, best actor male and female and so on. There will be something like 29 awards so interested contestants may get the details from the ESG offices or website (www.esg.co.in). ESG executive council member Nyanesghwar Moghe added that such a competition would aid in spreading a filmmaking culture and boost local talent in Goa. A national-level jury will be judging the film entries (both in Goan and National categories). Also present for the briefing were ESG CEO Amit Satija and Vice-Chairperson Subhash Phal Dessai. Other temptations to look forward to this incoming IFFI are a special retrospective of IFFI Outstanding Films, mostly classics, which will showcased in the Oscar Retrospective section during the festival kicking off on Nov 20. Film buffs may look forward to viewing timeless Hollywood classics on the big screen like ‘Casablanca’ by Michael Curtiz, ‘Gone With the Wind’ by Victor Fleming, ‘Ben Hur’ and the ‘Best Years of Our Lives’ by William Wyler, ‘All About Eve’ by Joseph L Mankiewicz, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ by David Lean, ‘The Sound of Music’ by Robert Wise, ‘The Godfather’ by Francis Ford Coppola, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ by Jonathan Demme and ‘Forrest Gump’ by Robert Zemeckis. Golden Jubilee IFFI hopes to offer more this time around and plans are under way to have film screenings at Inox-Porvorim, as also some of the Ravindra Bhavans like the one at Curchorem where equipment and technology is in place. Plus, open-air screenings are scheduled at Altinho garden and Miramar beach in Panaji; highlights also include Children’s Park, Art Park, cultural programs and much more down the Campal promenade for those who seek other entertainment apart from films only. This is to say old-timers may like to see films in the old-fashioned mode but GenNext is here filmmaking perceptions are changing and this golden jubilee IFFI there is much to look forward to. Some of the best film treats you’ll ever get to enjoy in a state which is rapidly making strides in the filmmaking world. Films long or short, features or documentaries – new ways of looking at life through old, contemporary and futuristic visual media technologies. The old will never go out of passion or fashion but the new searches for more — for always yeh dil maange more to be on the move! Amongst promises made by former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, one was of a film city or IFFI village, but the1,100 crore project is still in cold storage for reasons best known to ESG, which organises IFFI jointly with Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) and the I&B Ministry. IFFI village or city was supposed to be ready for this year’s Golden Jubilee IFFI Celebrations.
IFFI spreads out a red carpet for the screening of the best films of the world from November 20 to 28 and this year’s budget is reportedly 180 crore. (5.5 crore to be raised through sponsorship.)
INOX complex still looking dismal!
WHAT is happening to the Old Goa Medical Complex where INOX is located? Till Tuesday it was still looking like a lost jumbled garden of fallen trees and dilapidated yesteryear installation!
A grant eucalyptus or nilgiri tree which has been chopped is still lying around in bits and pieces with a mini jungle thriving around it…and it is anybody’s guess if the 6,000 delegates (2,795 paid for and including 972 students) who have registered so far for IFFI this year, will be comfy vis-à-vis accommodation, refreshment and food arrangements. With barely two to three weeks to go perhaps someone needs to wake up to a score of IFFI anxieties! After all hasn’t Goa been promoted for the last so many years as the film festival state of India of India? A lot of planned infrastructure is still brooding under wraps and it’s anyone’s guess when it will be in place in the near or distant future.
The glass bottles installation is falling apart but has remained there at the mercy of the weather for the last two years, nobody seems to want to make a clean sweep of it.