FFSI's state chapter plans film appreciation courses, workshops

PUNE: The Federation of Film Societies of India's (FFSI) Maharashtra chapter will now focus on activities beyond film screenings by taking up film appreciation courses to take cinema literacy a step ahead.
"The idea is to have more of film-related discussions, short-term film appreciation courses and other activities for analyzing films. So far, these activities were happening on a very small scale, but now we intend to widen their scope," said chapter president, Sudhir Nandgaonkar.
"We plan to form 25 new campus film societies and organise short-term film appreciation courses in about 18 different locations across the state, said chapter secretary, Satish Jakatdar.
This was discussed at a meeting held on Sunday to decide FFSI's future agenda. Representatives of various film societies from across the state participated in the meeting. There are around 50 campus and non-campus film societies in the state. "The emphasis will be on forming more campus film societies, as it is easier to groom the youth on quality cinema. It makes sense to stress on the academic side of cinema. Campus film societies will be required to organise at least, two guest lectures every year," said Nandgaonkar.
Campus film societies, too, are demanding additional food for thought on cinema, he said. "We are thinking of organising a workshop on films such as 'Sadhana,' 'Sinhasan' and 'Umbartha,' all written by Vijay Tendulkar and directed by Jabbar Patel," said Nandgaonkar. Screenings will continue, but two to three-day-long film appreciation courses will be a priority. "Last year, day-long workshops on cinema were held in 16 cities in the state. We plan to organise many more workshops at newer locations in the coming months. The second edition of a short-term film appreciation course, exclusively for college principals, is also on the cards this year. The first edition held last year, led to formation of seven new campus film societies in different parts of the state," said Zakatdar.
The FFSI, Maharashtra chapter's week-long film appreciation course will be held at the National Film Archive of India in the city from September 24 to 30.
Soon, film society at UoP
"The procedure to have a film society at UoP, is on. We hope to form the film society soon as there's a huge response from students for this kind of a cinema-related initiative," said Manohar Jadhav, head of department of Marathi, UoP.
Eom/Laxmi