Luis Bunuel Memorial Awards celebrates the passion for independent filmmaking

Luis Bunuel Memorial Awards (LBMA) hosted their 6th annual LIVE screening and award event at Rotary Sadan, Kolkata on February 17.
LBMA organises this event every year with the motto to highlight and showcase the work of independent filmmakers around the world. Independent filmmakers often do not get a chance to screen their films amidst the rat race of big-budget commercial films.LBMA religiously tries to take independent filmmakers forward by showing their films to the world audience.
The venue witnessed a glamorous red carpet entry by filmmakers, film enthusiasts and film critics from various parts of the globe like Spain, Toronto, the United States, Taiwan, Israel, and also from different states in India who had come down to participate in this massive event.
The excitement was palpable and the event saw active participation of filmmakers from around the world. One of the filmmakers present echoed, ‘Kolkata is witnessing such an event for the first time that highlights the work of independent filmmakers.’ Some of the filmmakers also added, “It is a well-organised event. It gives us the confidence to keep making more films.”
The event started by paying homage to the influential filmmaker Luis Bunuel followed by an introductory speech by the festival director. From approximately 2000 submissions throughout the year in various categories, the jury members with significant experience in filmmaking selected the best 50 films to be screened at the event.

Some of the screened films included Everything I Could by Ben Cable from the United States, All Good- Shahar Saul by Roman Buchatsky from Israel, Paani by Bud Patel from the United States, The Alliance 2: The Hunt for Breeze by Robert L. Butler Jr from the United States, Forest Island by Ryosuke Handa from Japan, Beautiful Violence by Joey Medina from the US, Ayrton: Childhood in the Heart of Brazil by Vicentini Gomez and Hugo Casarta from Brazil, The Door by Fella Cederbaum from United States, Ballesteros On My Mind- The Film by Karlo Garcia Gino from Philippines, Vertigo by Haruo Inoue from Japan, Tierra del Fuego by Oleksandr Lozytskyi from Ukraine, Lady Samurai- The Final Cut by Fay Yvonne Goodman from United Kingdom, Routine by Russell Emmanuel, Unconditional Love by Wallis Liu from Taiwan, Hispania- Land of Rabbits by Jose Luis Rodriguez from Spain.
The Broken Frame by Sannidh Raychaudhuri, Sayan Roychowdhury, The River by Suramya, Mom and Us by Raja Ram Mukherji, ATMAN by Hariharan Raju are some of the outstanding Indian films screened at the event.
One of the filmmakers said, “I applaud the jury members for selecting films which has something every filmmaker could learn from.” He added, “It is great to see that young people are so serious about the art of filmmaking.”
The screening was followed by a panel discussion which was the most significant and exclusive section of the event. The discussion gave an idea of the journey that each filmmaker has and the obstacles that an independent filmmaker faces. One of the makers rightly said, “Passion is what ignites filmmaking. One need not be a film graduate to showcase his idea.”
For some of the filmmakers, the event served as a great platform for interacting with other filmmakers and exchanging ideas. He said, “This event helped us to get in touch with many more Indie-filmmakers who have the same passion within them.” The session also gave an insight into how they want the audience to see their creativity in their films.
After an instructive panel discussion, it was time for a cultural dance performance and an award presentation ceremony for honouring all the winning filmmakers. The winners received certificates and trophies along with a detailed review of their creation by the leading international film review aggregator Cult Critic.
The event ended with a group photo of filmmakers and crew members in the frame, followed by bytes of the filmmakers sharing their experience through the event, and their reactions after emerging as winners. The creators were ecstatic and expressed, “It is always great when you get recognised for your work. It is like our hard work has finally paid off.”
With hearts full of happiness and memories, filmmakers and organisers concluded the successful event hoping for greater participation and enthusiasm the following year.