Assess technology’s impact on filmmaking: Adoor

PUNE: Dadasaheb Phalke award winning filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan said that newer technologies have made filmmaking easier, accessible and popular, but contemplation is required to assess whether it has contributed to the quality of films being made.
Gopalakrishnan inaugurated the third edition of the National Student Film Awards and Students Film Festival of India on Tuesday.
Gopalakrishnan, who is himself an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), which is hosting the festival this year, told students that an event like this gives them a chance to show their talent.
“When FTII was set up, it was the first such institute in the country but now the situation has changed. Today there are several film training institutes all over the country apart from other media institutes. Suddenly there has been an explosion of training facilities,” he said, adding that it was also a result of changes in technology of film making.
Director of the institute, D J Narain said the festival organizers received 200 entries this year from as many as 34 institutes. About 66 films were shortlisted for the competitive section of the festival that were then viewed by a jury chaired by noted film director Girish Kasarvalli.
Another alumnus of FTII and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha was present at the inauguration.
The highlight of the evening was the screening of 1924 silent classic film ‘Sherlock Jr.’ Recreating the film viewing experience of the silent films era, the Buster Keaton directed film was accompanied by live music played by acclaimed music composer and pianist Gerard Gruber.