From Dada Saheb Phalke to AR tech, exhibition traces Indian films’ journey

PANAJI: Play a Bollywood quiz with Alexa, get your photo clicked with a virtual image of Mahatma Gandhi created using AR technology, and watch rare clips of the earliest editions of the International Film Festival of India (Iffi). At the Iffi@50 digital exhibition at Kala Academy, set up to mark the festival’s golden jubilee year, delegates can engage in many interactive installations.
Packed in 200 sq m, the exhibition takes the visitor from the humble beginnings of cinema in India to the glimpses of works of master filmmakers like Satyajit Ray that the country has generated over the years.
There are boards flashing all Iffi award-winners over the years, a game where the visitor can walk the red carpet and earn points, and a screen where he or she can experience getting drenched by virtual rain at the Iffi@50 display, inaugurated by secretary for information & broadcasting Amit Khare on Thursday.
‘In 1912, Dada Saheb Phalke was asked by a French director to stay back in Europe to make films, but Phalke returned to India after saying he wanted to make films in India with his people,’ reads an exhibit on a digital board.
Iffi, Asia’s first film festival, was held across four cities—Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata—in its first edition in 1952. At this first edition, 21 countries participated and 140 films entered the festival. Back then Iffi was non-competitive. In 1969, when the second edition was held, the Golden Peacock and Silver Peacock awards were introduced. These are some of the interesting facts about Iffi that delegates can learn by touching the screen of an interactive board.
Clips from Konkani films like ‘Nirmon’ (1966) to the more recent ‘O Maria’, posters of earliest Indian films, early news clippings on Iffi—the exhibition takes viewers through the entire journey of Indian cinema and Iffi within minutes.