Carter Pilcher explains in #MIFF2022 on How to take your films to the Oscars ?

MIFF Campus: How to qualify one’s film for the coveted Oscar awards? This is one query that resonates in the mind of every aspiring film maker in the world. Well, the 17th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival has got you the right answer in the form of Master Class session lead by Carter Pilcher, Founder and CEO of short movie entertainment company Shorts TV. Carter Pilcher is also the distributor of Oscar nominated short films for seventeen years and a voting member of both the BAFTA and the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

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Giving a birds eye view on the long journey of ShortsTV since its inception in 2000, Carter Pilcher said that the world of short films is really exciting and there are enormous opportunities in this field. He also gave a brief description about process and timeline followed by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in deciding on the Oscar nominated short films.

Road to Oscars

Listing out rules to follow in one’s road to Oscars, Carter Pilcher said that qualification is key and there are three ways to get qualified for applying to Oscars. “The film must either commercially release for seven days in a Los Angeles theatre or win a qualifying prize at an accredited film festival. It can also qualify by winning Gold, Silver or Bronze Award in Student academy awards”, he elaborated.

Carter Pilcher also highlighted that making a great short film is really about story telling. “To get Oscars you have to tell a great story or raise an issue that needs to be solved. One can make the story interesting and exciting with pictures, inferences, characters, voice overs, animation and live action. But filmmakers should be cautious while mixing various media. Everything you use for film must serve the story”, he added.

Carter Pilcher also emphasized that getting nominated for Oscars should not be the end goal for film makers. “ Goal is introduction of one’s film and oneself as a film maker. Theatrical release of the film allows filmmakers to share their work with a greater audience. It will also bring one into the larger world of film making on a completely different level”, he said.

Hinting about the future of short film industry, Carter said that short films are becoming a more mainstream art form in India and abroad. He also discouraged the trend of putting short films online as that may work against the films while considering them for Oscar nominations. He also touched upon crowd funding platforms like Web 3 that helps the film makers to raise money directly from audience.

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Mighty Little Bheem: I love Taj Mahal, India’s first Netflix original animation series had its world

MIFF Campus: Mighty Little Bheem: I love Taj Mahal, India’s first Netflix original animation series has made a mark across the globe by breaking all records. More than 27 million households have watched the series outside India, said creative director of the film at its world premiere in the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) today. He said, it is the most watched video on the official Netflix kids and family You Tube channel.

Mighty Little Bheem: I love Taj Mahal, India’s first Netflix original animation series was screened free today for children, who have become part of the festival for the first time both in physical and online mode.

Addressing a masterclass on ‘Animating in India for the World’ at the screening, Shri Chintapatla said, “India has a great culture and heritage. We have used the famous Taj Mahal and other unique aspects in this animation series which showcases the richness of our culture and content. The film itself represents a perfect case for animating in India for the world.”

“A good story presented in a unique manner always captures the audience. As the film is primarily meant for the toddlers, the team has sensibly made it, considering several psychological and behavioural aspects,” added Tirthadip Ghosh, production designer of the film.

The master class is an elaboration on the creation process of the widely loved and appreciated animated series created by Hyderabad based animation company Green Gold Animation Pvt. Ltd.

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Film restoration is an art: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur at MIFF Masterclass

MIFF Campus: Film restoration is as much an art form as filmmaking as the restorer has to use an artist’s eye and mind to ensure that the restoration is faithful to the original creator’s vision, said national award winning filmmaker, archivist and restorer Shivendra Singh Dungarpur at a masterclass held on the sideline of 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) today.

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While addressing the masterclass on ‘The Art and Ethics of Film Restoration’ Shri Dungarpur said, “Restoration involves not just the repair of physical damage or deterioration of the film, but takes into consideration the intent of the original creator, artistic integrity, accuracy and completeness of the film.” He highlighted the five key elements of preservation process, which includes acquisition, conservation, duplication, restoration and accessibility.

“In India by and large we look at film as a commercial entity not as an art form. That is the basic tenet on which the process of restoration is being built. That is one of the reasons for which we have lost many classics like India’s first talkie, ‘Alam Ara’ and first colour film ‘Kisan Kanya’ among others”, flagged Shri Dungarpur.

He also discussed the difference between mass digitization programme and quality restoration. His deliberation covered the entire restoration process right from research and sourcing the best elements to the restoration workflow and mastering of the output and the afterlife of the restored film. He illustrated the case studies of world class restorations including Uday Shankar’s Kalpana, Satyajit Ray’s Appu Trilogy restored from burnt negatives and Aravindan’s Thamp, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film festival, 2022.

About the Speaker

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur is an award-winning Indian filmmaker, producer, film archivist and restorer who has won acclaim for his films "Celluloid Man", "The Immortals" and "CzechMate - In Search of Jirí Menzel". He founded Dungarpur Films in 2001 and also founded Film Heritage Foundation in 2014. In 2012, he won two National Film Awards for his documentary Celluloid Man, based on the life of noted film scholar, preservationist and the founder of National Film Archive of India, P.K. Nair.

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