18 Sep Shivendra Singh Dungarpur to inaugurate IFFT-Orange Online Short &Docu Film Festival
Famous Indian Filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur will inaugurate the first edition of the International Online Short and Documentary film festival jointly organized by the Orange Academy and the IFFT at 5.30 pm on 21st September. Respectable Thrissur Corporation Mayor, AjithaJayarajan will preside over the function which will be streamed online.
The three day Online Film Festival will have a competition and non-competition sessions. The major highlight of the festival is the tributes to two recently expired film personalities- Gaston Roberge, who is known as the father of film studies in India and Jiri Menzel, the filmmaker who is a pioneer of the Czech New Wave cinema. The other important packages are a retrospective on great Chilean documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzman, a country focus on Japan, 100th birth anniversary of Satyajith Ray, Masters & classics on Norman Mclaren, select documentaries produced by the EMMRC, Calicut University and a session on jury chairman, PN Ramachandra’s short and documentary films.
Paying homage to the Czechoslovakian maestro Jiri Menzel, a 7-hour long documentary made on him by Indian film maker, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur will be screened. Mr. Shivendra Singh will also be talking on the inaugural session on the subject- “The Magical World of the Czechoslovakian New Wave”. As part of paying homage to one of the pioneers of Indian film and media studies, Fr. Gaston Roberge, a documentary made on Fr. Gaston Roberge directed by Sri. K.G.Das will be screened in the festival. Dr. SomeshwarBhowmik, author and film critic will be talking about the contributions of Fr. Gaston Roberge.
In commemoration of 100th birth anniversary of Satyajith Ray, the festival will be screening a documentary on Tagore made by Ray. Jury Chairman, P.N.Ramachandra’s documentary and short films will be screened in a separate session titled “Jury Chairman’s Films” in which double life (short film), The Unbearable Being of Lightness (documentary), TikuTiku Director (Short film), COVID ANAND 2020 (short film), Heart Troubles of RamchandYavatmalTiruchinapalliAzamghar (short film), India Now !!(documentary) Our daily muck (documentary), Out of tune(short film) and Selfies with Siri (Short film).
Select documentaries produced by the EMMRC, Calicut University and which have won recognitions will be presented in a separate session. Six documentaries- Diaries on blindness, Mangroves, She Paints, The Rhythms of Kerala – Maddalam, WayanadanRamayanam, and The pesticide trap- will be shown.
In the Masters and Classics session, animations films of famous director Norman Mclaren will be shown. 11 short films including Canon, Blinkity Blank, Begone Dull Care, Rythmetic, The Blackbird, Mosaic, Spheres, Hen Hop, Love on the Wing, Lines horizontal and Neighbours to be screened. The online festival has a rich diversity of representation in terms of content and narratives. As part of the retrospective on great Chilean documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzman, his five films- Astronomers from my Neighbourhood/ Documentary, Chile – A Galaxy of Problems/ Documentary, Jose Maza, Sky Traveller, / Short film , Maria Teresa and the Brown Dwarf/ Short film- Oscar Saa, Technician of the Stars(Short film) will be screened.
In a session, country focus on Japan, three Japanese short films are included viz. Dead Vacation (Director: Yawata), Terrarium Locker Room (Director: Katsu), The Sleeping Insect (Yurina Kaneko).
The competition session has a theme: Alone, Together. In the competition sections, 22 films have been selected including 20 short films and two are docs. The eminent panel of jury is chaired by noted documentary filmmaker and teacher, Sri. P.N.Ramachandra and it has Dr.Rekha Raj, Academic, Dalit-Feminist Scholar and Writer and Sri. Aditya Shankar, bi-lingual poet and film critic as members. The jury will be selecting the best among the entries in terms of different categories that we announced. The best film will be awarded a cash prize of Rs.50,000 and a certificate and the second best film will get Rs.25,000 and a certificate. Certificates will also be presented for the best director, the best cinematographer, the best editor and the best sound designer.
There will be open forums where the audience can interact with filmmakers and also we have a webinar on the topic: ‘Creativity and Crisis’ in the period of Covid-19 in which Damodar Prasad, C.S. Venkateswaran, Rekha Raj and Aditya Shankar will participate.
Films will be exhibited on the two online venues as follows: Jiri Menzel Online Venue and Gaston Roberge Online Venue. Those who want to watch this festival online should register their names Clicking here.