The 1st International Film Festival of India, 1952
Gautam Kaul | Nov 20
I missed the first International Film Festival of India, because I was too young to be allowed to see the festival films. There was a precondition that only ‘adults’ were allowed to see the programmes. I had to wait my time… To say the least, this film festival was poorly archived for future generations. As we approach this year, marking the fiftieth edition of the international film festival of India, there is a major problem to find those who were there in the crowd…
… At the conclusion of the travelling Festival, there was widespread opinion that the exposure of film artists and technicians of the Indian film industry to the works of international cinema was meaningful and an eye opener. Film Yukiwarisoo was immediately made into an Indian clone called Bhagyawaan. The neo realist Italian cinema influenced Bimal Roy and his friends and they went on to make the celebrated Do Bigha Zameen. Raj Kapoor armed with his IPTA membership, financed Boot Polish…
.. At the end of this film jamboree, the Indian government could not make up its mind whether to make the event an annual feature for India or not. The original festival had been bannered as ‘International Film Festival’ or “IFF”. In the intervening years, the government was told to call it the International Film Festival of India or IFFI. This was the first film festival in Asia, and the third in the world after Venice and Cannes.
Of cinema and women
Muktha | Nov 20
When world cinema completes more than a century from its origin, the role played by women off screen is extremely scarce. Women decorated roles as actresses and singers, but a significant position in the industry where her ‘voice’ is heard in cinema was left blank… The influential French daily Le Monde once published an open letter. It read: “At Cannes, women show their breasts, men show their films.”
On the history and importance of film festivals
Anirban Lahiri | Nov 20
In the Indian subcontinent, the tradition of film festivals goes back to 1952, when the first International Film Festival of India (IFFI) took place, in Mumbai. It gave birth to a new league of Indian filmmakers, such as the Bengali trio Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, who would revolutionize Indian cinema, in the following decades….
… Only festivals have the magic to offer a sense of euphoria to budding filmmakers.
IFFI at 50 — a reality check
S Viswanath | Nov 20
It is time the powers that be and well-wishers of cinema as a pure play art form where the aesthetic, creative and best of cinemas showcased ensure the best of talents also make it a point to attend and savour the magic and marvel of movies…
… IFFI, has been assiduously providing a common platform for cinemas of the world to project the excellence of film art; contributing to understanding and appreciation of film cultures of different nations in the context of their social and cultural ethos.
Hrid Majhare
Dipsikha Bhagawati | Dec 25
Adapts the stroke of ineludible destiny, precisely, the pithy maxim “character is destiny” effectuated by Shakespeare… The twisted narrative leads from one thing to the other and the protagonist’s settled life soon stares at traumatic fragmentation. When logic seems to bow its head to the power of fate, the two vulnerable souls fight hardhanded against the inescapable. Sempiternal love gets catechised, trust glimmers, and jealousy raises its vile head, making them victims of their own choices.