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.
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.
Talks
Saibal Chatterjee, et al at the International Film Festival of India. Photo courtesy: Jayan K. Cherian | Goa
Ratnottama Sengupta. Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture, Kolkata International Film Festival | Kolkala
Rashmi Doraiswamy. Academy of International Studies & Film South Asia’s Festival of Films from South Asia.
Premendra Mazumder, et al. at the Federation of Film Societies of India Open forum, IFFI 2019 | Goa
MK Raghavendra, Baradwaj Rangan, et al. at the Bangalore Literature Festival | Bangalore
Jai Arjun Singh et al. Chandigarh Literature Festival. Photo courtesy: Sukanya Venkatraghavan | Chandigarh
Amitava Naag. Lecture series on 100 years of Bengali cinema. Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival | Indonesia
DISCUSSION: film criticism in India
MK Raghavendra, Madhu Eravankara, et al., speak at the FIPRESCI seminar on film criticism, moderated by GP Ramachandran
FILM REVIEWS
Tanul Thakur reviews and recommends five films that are kind of categorised by five different qualities central to any family.
INTERVIEW: Shruti Haasan
Baradwaj Rangan gets Shruti Haasan talking on indie music, on how acting helped her make better music, and on her father's ambitions for her.
Kautik International Film Festival
Moinok Guhu’s An Irrelevant Dialogue and Kuldeep Sah Gangola’s Ghost Villages are the winners of the FCCI Award for Best Indian Short Fiction and Best Indian Documentary, respectively, at the Kautik International Film Festival.
Gautam Kaul (chair), Parthajit Baruah, and Deepa Gahlot comprised the 3-member critics jury.
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