Make it short & digital, advise filmmakers

GUWAHATI: Urging filmmakers of the region to concentrate more on making quality short films, veteran filmmaker Gautam Bora said there's plenty of opportunity worldwide in this genre.
He, along with others from the film fraternity, expressed their concern at the poor propsects of short films in the northeastern region compared to other parts of the country. "In the past five years, Indian filmmakers have learnt the craft and gifted some wonderful short films of international quality.This craft is new to this region, but it has been in vogue for decades in the other parts of the world," said Bora, while speaking at an open forum discussion.
"But the unfortunate part is that filmmakers of the region have not taken the issue seriously. Though several young filmmakers tried to do something with institutions like ADDA, I think they need more dedication," he added.
Globalization, he felt, was providing a bigger and better platform to young filmmakers. His views were endorsed by noted film critic Utpal Dutta. "You need to put your heart and soul into the film and if it gets an opportunity to be screened at prestigious film festivals, then the door to a world platform opens up for you," he said.
Others attending the discussion also felt digital film making is the only way to save regional cinema. Sanjib Sabhapandit, a national award winning filmmaker from Assam, who recently made an Assamese feature film called Jaangfaai Joonak (from the shadow of silence) using digital technology, said with several advantages, digital filmmaking can help regional filmmakers excel in a bigger way.
"My film would have cost more than Rs 35 lakh but everything was done within Rs 13 lakh. And to add to that, I have plenty of options to play with my ideas while editing the film, which is quite difficult in the film format," he said.
Sabhapandit converted the film into celluloid format after shooting it in digital HD camera. "If the movie is shot in celluloid format we need to spend extra money and editing is also cumbersome. But there are many cheaper options if shot in digital format. From colour correction to sub-titles, there are many possibilities," he averred.
The filmmaker also said Assam has failed to produce good films in recent times as was evident from the ongoing film festival. "It's unfortunate that we do not have good films compared to those which are being screened at the film fest," he rued.
But at the same time he had words of praise for Manipuri filmmakers. "Our Manipuri counterparts have done an excellent work with limited resources. After watching their films I learnt that they are socially more relevant and they have always left a mark," said Sabhapandit, whose film Jatinga Ityadi was selected for the Indian Panorama in 2007.
"Haobam Paban Kumar and Tej Kumar among others have brought about a revolution in digital filmmaking," he said.