KOLKATA, India (UCAN) – Some young filmmakers in India say a Jesuit media center’s annual film festival offers them unique opportunities to grow.
The center, Chitrabani (picture-sound), launched the festival five years ago with Nandan (entertainment), West Bengal state’s cultural center. Both centers are in Kolkata, the state capital, 1,460 kilometers southeast of New Delhi.
This year’s festival, held Dec. 7-13, screened 98 films in Bengali, English, Hindi, Marathi and Tamil languages.
Sajal Samaddar, a young filmmaker who makes documentaries for corporate houses, told UCA News Chitrabani’s initiative has given him access to the public. Two of the four films he submitted were selected for screening.
Another director, Kaushik Kumar, 26, submitted his first documentary. It features India’s traditional extended family (“joint-family”) system whereby parents live with their children and grandchildren under one roof.
Inspiration for the film, Kumar told UCA News, came from his own experience growing up in such a family. “Today, societies are breaking and so is the state, because people do not realize the joy of living together,” he said.
Motiur Rahman, a filmmaker serving as the festival’s public relations officer, told UCA News about 500 people, mostly young men and women, watched screenings each day. Rahman said young filmmakers from across India, especially from West Bengal, consider the festival a screening platform for their efforts. It is the Jesuit center’s unique contribution, he added.
According to Jesuit Father Joseph Pymbellykunnel, Chitrabani’s director, the event draws people together irrespective of religion, language or culture. This year, he told UCA News, the filmmakers were aged 25-32, and 25 of the screened films came from women.
The 193 films submitted this year were the most since the event began, but organizers selected and screened only about half of them. Two from the United Kingdom and six from Bangladesh were among those chosen for the festival.
Father Pymbellykunnel pointed out that this year’s films had less violence than in the past. “We had more films dealing with peace and harmony. This shows a change in the orientation of young filmmakers.”
Besides offering a platform to showcase films, Chitrabani discusses with filmmakers ways to help each other and develop joint projects, the priest added.
According to an agreement between Chitrabani and Nandan, the Jesuit center arranges the festival’s logistics and Nandan provides the screening venue.
Father Pymbellykunnel said Chitrabani also negotiates with marketing firms to help young filmmakers sell their films, and since July 2007, Nandan has helped Chitrabani screen short films by young filmmakers on Saturdays.