Film and Television Institute of India to honour budding filmmakers

PUNE: City-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) will hold a national-level Student Film Festival of India (SFFI) and the first national students' film awards from April 19 to 24 to mark 100 years of Indian Cinema.
Forty three prominent film schools have participated in the festival and 60 films have been selected by the jury for the competition.It is from these films that the awardees will be chosen. Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday D J Narain, director, FTII, said that the event has been organized not only to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema but also to encourage and celebrate film making as an art amongst young student filmmakers across the country. , who come from diverse social and cultural backgrounds.
The festival will also include an international screening package, where over 30 films made by student filmmakers from countries such as UK, Germany and others will be screened. "These filmmakers have also been invited to the event," said Narain. There will be a package of 20-25 past and present FTII films that will be screened as part of the international package, he added.
Out of around 150 entries, 60 films have been selected for festival screening in the competition section which will vie for the awards.
"The screenings will be held at main theatre, preview theatre and class room theatre of the institute," said Narain, adding that regional Marathi short films will also find prominence among over 100 films being screened during the six-day festival.
Besides FTII, the film schools whose entries have been selected are: Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata; Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad; National Institute of Designs, Ahmedabad; Whistling Woods Internationals, Mumbai; Ramoji Academy of Film and Television, Hyderabad; Srishti School of Art Design and Technology, Bangalore; Maya Academy of Advance Cinematics, Mumbai and Reliance AIMS, Pune, among others. The various categories of the awards include 'short fiction', which will include 15 films (entries) up to 10 minutes and 19 films in the range of 10 minutes to 30 minutes.
The 'non-fiction' category will include 18 films of up to 30 minutes while the 'animation' category will include eight films with a running time of up to 30 minutes.
The awards will be given short fiction, non-fiction and animation categories for best in the field of direction, cinematography, editing, sound engineering, screenplay writing, acting, production design and the like.
A trophy, designed by the National Institute of Designs, Ahmedabad, will be unveiled during the opening ceremony of the event.
"Apart from screening of top student's films from India and across the globe, the event will also feature classes and workshops on various techniques of film making. Oscar winner for sound mixing Simon Hayes, German filmmaker and teacher Hartmut Bitomsky and chairman of Bafta Film Committee of England, Nick Powel, have been invited for these workshops and classes," said Narain.
The event will also see discussions and seminars on various issues related to aesthetics of film making - which include social inclusivity, political and cultural responsibilities in the field of film making.
The event is organized in partnership with directorate of film festivals, the ministry of information and broadcasting and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. FTII has received about Rs 25 lakh from the state government for the festival.
The opening day will include the screening of the film Prabhat Nagari and the Marathi film 'Kaatal', directed by former FTII student Vikrant Pawar.