Kabir Khan,Aanand L Rai,Mahaveer Jain to discuss ways for youngsters to enter film industry at IFFI

Well-known names from the mainstream Bollywood industry, including Kabir Khan, Aanand L Rai, Luv Ranjan, Mahaveer Jain and Ananya Birla, will be coming together to have a discussion at the ongoing 53rd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

The group of filmmakers and producers would be discussing ways to benefit youngsters wanting to enter the industry. “This powerhouse of a panel is to discuss ways to carve out a path into the growing film industry for newcomers. The idea is that the biggest names in the industry right now shall impart their knowledge and share their ways to empower the film industry,” said an official statement from the organizers.

The statement added, “This noble initiative is in hopes that the change will bring some good and fresh content in (the) industry since the panelists are seasoned film industry specialists and have years of experiences that they are willing to share and empower the upcoming generation.”

This year’s IFFI started on 20th November and will be on till 28th November.

Mahaveer Jain was one of the producers for Sooraj Barjatya’s latest release Uunchai, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Parineeti Chopra, Neena Gupta and Danny Denzongpa. Kabir Khan’s last outing 83 got a lot of critical acclaim.

Kung Fu Panda creator Mark Osborne at IFFI 53 Master Class

Though the streaming platforms are a boon for animation films, the greatest evergreen trend in animation film making is emotional storytelling, said Mark Osborne, American filmmaker and animator famous for his films like Kung Fu Panda and The Little Prince. He was leading a Master Class session on the topic ‘Animation as a Tool for Expression’ on the sidelines of 53rd International Film Festival of India.

Swati Bhat

“With the emergence of OTT platforms, creating content for a global audience is going to be the norm. But at the end of the day, the film needs to connect with the people and touch their hearts``, he added. He further said that for creating such type of content, it's really important to find out what is meaningful to you. “If it is important to you and you are honest about it, you will find your audience. Honesty creates a fresh approach,” he elucidated.

Emphasising on the power of Animation, Mark said that animation is a diverse and vast medium that can tell any story. Digging deep he said, “To make somebody feel about something that doesn’t even exist, is really magnificent. It is the result of a continuous process of rewriting, rebuilding and experimentation. We feel the magic of animation when you see it come to life eventually.”

Mark Osborne also opined that one cannot finalise an animation project in script form. “As far as animation is concerned, the script is not locked. There is always scope for improvisation right to the last moment. It is going to evolve and change. Being a visual medium, we need to allow the visual medium to do a lot of work on the project”, he explained.

Responding to queries, the master animator said that every animator needs a support system to bring out the stories within them. “Supporting the artists and creators can help miracles happen. A safe space is needed for the artists to create animation”, he asserted.

On a cautious note to aspiring animation makers, Mark said that though it is important to draw inspiration from masters, care should be taken to not imitate their work. “You have to find a balance by exploring your own ideas. Every person will have a different perspective and life experience. Bringing this personal journey and experience into filmmaking is paramount. Mark Osborne also gave a detailed presentation of his journey in creating the movie The Little Prince by adapting the novel written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The session was moderated by Prosenjit Ganguly.

#thecommunique #tc #tcn #event #IFFI #IFFIGoa #IFFI53

"One Hundred Hours of Footage & I don't Know What to Do With That?" Dir. Diya Cowasji

Swati Bhat

From IFFI Campus

A film that took shape in the editing table. The Director, who had a sub-conscious interest in Parsi theatre, had conducted random interviews of aging Parsi theatre artists, kept those footages in her storage bank and forgotten about it.

Filmmaker Diya Cowasji and her brother Jall Cowasji shared this engrossing story of the birth of their documentary The Show Must Go On at an interaction organised by PIB at IFFI 53. The film made in cinéma vérité style tells the story of coming together of the artists of an old Parsi theatre for one final show after a long time.

After nearly 30 years of dormancy, in 2017, the ageing icons of Parsi Theatre decided to return to the stage, for one final curtain. The Director who was informed about it, went to Bombay, shot for a little while and kept the footages safely. However, mirthful time spent amidst the aging, fun-loving Parsi theatre artists made her fall in love with them and what was happening backstage! “I was so taken by their spirit, their camaraderie, the bond between the old and the young and how none of them took life seriously”.

The Director-Producer-Cinematographer Divya Cowasji says, “I had over 100 hours of footage. Didn’t know what to do with it!” Then suddenly, she found some footages taken during shooting her first movie many years ago, where a couple is talking about their experience in a play where the wife dies on stage and the husband lives all alone. That was a dropped penny moment for her.

Then, she collaborated with her brother who is a trained cinematographer. Jall says, “Before even we started editing, I spent three months categorizing all the footage into 25-30 different timelines based on different themes. Once we had those themes laid out, we realized that there is something substantial here. That's how painfully, the film slowly took shape”. Jall is also the editor, co-producer and co-director of this documentary.

The brother-sister duo’s film The Show Must Go On was the opening film in the Indian Panorama non-feature section of 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

Speaking about Parsi theatre, Divya Cowasji said, “At one time, Parsi theatre was so popular in Mumbai that legend goes, a train called 'Theatre Express' used to come on Sunday mornings to Mumbai which used to be packed with Gujarati speaking audiences. The community themselves are fun loving, enjoying a no-holds barred, unfiltered, silly sort of humour that appeal to people that makes people forget their worries and have a good laugh.” She further informed, though a few playwrights tried to write serious, tragic kind of plays, it didn’t work out with the Parsi theatre audience.

Divya Cowasji said, “A lot of these actors who returned to stage after many years were in wheelchairs, walkers and old age assistive devices. But the whole process of performing again on stage invigorated them so much that they were singing and dancing”. That’s the Parsi spirit!

Speaking about their collaboration, Jall Cowasji said, “We love to come back together time and again to collaborate". Divya Cowasji is a photographer and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She won a National Award (2015) for ‘Qissa-e-Parsi’. Her films have screened at several international festivals.

The Show Must Go On had its world premiere at Film Southasia 2022 in Nepal.

The film’s synopsis goes as: Plunging into rehearsals, the documentary chronicles their resilience to go out one last time with a bang on stage. The creative chaos of rehearsals reveals an intimate portrait of their bonds, distinct sensibilities, and not-so-subtle unique humour. But a great tragedy befalls the cast on the eve of the final show. Will it change everything? Or will the show go on?

#thecommunique #tc #tcn #event #IFFIGoa #IFFI2022 #IFFIWood