Huge response for event showing Goutam Ghose documentaries

He is a filmmaker par excellence. His storytelling is deeply rooted in reality as much as it is dealt with emotions. So, when movie-goers and students of filmmaking got an opportunity to view his work, the three-day screening of 13 documentary films by Goutam Ghose opened to a packed house. ICCR’s Forum for Film Studies and Allied Arts along with Kalpanirjhar Foundation organised Memories Abound: Goutam Ghose on the Documentary Trail at the former’s address recently.
The response received from this kind of a selective retrospective of the filmmaker’s documentaries has left the organisers overwhelmed too. “We thought it was important to present this. Many international filmmakers are known for their works of fiction like the feature films they make. Some make waves at the film festivals around the world. But their documentaries are also significant work,” said SV Raman, managing trustee and secretary of Kalpanirjhar Foundation, adding, “But they need exposure. Unfortunately, in our television scenario there is no slot for showing them. That’s something we would like to fight for.”
The event served everyone well. It was a revisit for the ones watching the documentaries again after they had watched it decades ago. The time frame was Ghose’s work between 1974 and 2016. For the younger generation, it was a great exposure to know the renowned filmmaker. “There was a fantastic mix of audience. Not only the film society crowd but people with general interest in films turned up in huge numbers. The hall was jam-packed, which we never expected,” said Raman, adding, “Though we were overwhelmed with the response one little nagging thing is that filmmakers don’t come to watch their contemporaries or seniors. We expected many more from the younger filmmaker in Bengal, who are ruling now, to turn up at the event.”
Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, Debajyoti Mishra and Anjan Bose were present as guests of honour. They narrated their own connections with Ghose and how they were associated with some of the documentaries shown.