IIPM Mumbai Campus
Kolkata's annual cinema celebration has been run to the ground by ill-equipped bureaucrats
The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is riddled with flaws. The principal one is that the Bengal government runs the show. When a festival of this nature is managed by the government, it can only be bad news. No festival in the world is state-controlled to the extent that KIFF is and none is as badly run.
Take the example of the International Film Festival of Kerala. It is organised by a state where the leftist LDF and the Congress-led UDF wield political power by turns. But never does the government get directly involved with the conduct of the film festival. The event is run by an autonomous body made up of filmmakers, producers, actors and cinema experts. The person who is appointed the director of the festival is somebody who has put in years of work in cinema. In contrast, the film festival in Kolkata is headed by the CEO of Nandan Film Centre. It makes no sense at all.
Take the Pusan Film Festival in Korea as another case in point. Currently it is Asia’s number one film festival. It is also counted among the world’s top six or seven film festivals. Like the Kolkata Film Festival, the Pusan event is 16 years old. While the Kolkata festival has steadily lost its lustre, Pusan has gone from strength to strength. It isn’t difficult to see why.
The Kolkata festival is plagued by corruption and nepotism at every level. The event is controlled completely by bureaucrats and politically connected functionaries. They have a free run of the field. No wonder affairs have come to such a sorry pass.
It is not as if the Kolkata Film Festival was always like this. When it started 16 years ago, and for several years thereafter, it was a much-awaited annual celebration of the art and craft of cinema. The first director of this festival was the unimpeachable Prabodh Maitra, whose knowledge of and passion for the medium was beyond question. He has been replaced today by people whose only claim to fame is that they are close to the CM.
These men have decided they can organise a festival by doing DVD projections. They have no clue that DVD projections can never be the real thing. Amazingly, the festival director has argued that major festivals like the one in Cannes also screen DVDs. This false claim obviously stems from a lack of awareness. Has this gentleman ever been to the Cannes Film Festival? If he had, he would never ever said what he has. He would have known that what he claims to be a DVD projection is actually the screening of a master tape, or digibeta.
It is a natural urge for every nation to promote its cultural identity. An international film festival is an important means of doing that. The essence of Kolkata’s intellectual spirit could have been raised to new heights in the 16 years that this film festival has been in existence. The event could have given the city a unique branding of its own. Were that to happen, the exercise would have had the involvement of a wide cross-section of people. However, the bureaucrats at the helm have not allowed that to happen.
To get down to a more specific problem, is every film that the Kolkata Film Festival screens backed by formal permissions from the rights owners? Do they invite the makers of these films as a rule? I have my doubts. Last year, they screened my documentary film, Wagah, but they did not seek my permission nor did they extend a formal invitation to me. In the West, many producers and sales agents refuse to screen their films at festivals unless they receive a screening fee.
Why are policemen deployed in such large numbers at the festival venue? A cultural activity should be a liberating experience that encourages a free exchange of ideas. In the Nandan complex, freedom is conspicuous by its absence. Why should a filmmaker have to seek the permission of policemen to enter the premises. It’s a shame. The complex has no space for adda sessions, no restaurants and no lounges. There is no infrastructure here for people who might want to meet each other in a convivial, relaxed atmosphere.
Several steps need to be taken to salvage the festival from its inertia. First and foremost, it should be taken away from the government and handed over to an autonomous body manned by people who understand cinema. The event should also be turned into a competitive festival – that is the only way to attract high quality films. Pusan and Kerala have competitive festivals. In Kerala, the prize money is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. Moreover, the focus of the Kolkata film festival should always firmly be on Bengali cinema.
I have another crucial suggestion: the festival should have two directors, one creative, the other financial. And to make the festival really worthwhile for aspiring filmmakers, a film fund should be set up so that grants could be given to promising new projects. It is important to save the Kolkata Film Festival because the fortunes of Bengali cinema are intertwined with its health.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Kolkata's annual cinema celebration has been run to the ground by ill-equipped bureaucrats
The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is riddled with flaws. The principal one is that the Bengal government runs the show. When a festival of this nature is managed by the government, it can only be bad news. No festival in the world is state-controlled to the extent that KIFF is and none is as badly run.
Take the example of the International Film Festival of Kerala. It is organised by a state where the leftist LDF and the Congress-led UDF wield political power by turns. But never does the government get directly involved with the conduct of the film festival. The event is run by an autonomous body made up of filmmakers, producers, actors and cinema experts. The person who is appointed the director of the festival is somebody who has put in years of work in cinema. In contrast, the film festival in Kolkata is headed by the CEO of Nandan Film Centre. It makes no sense at all.
Take the Pusan Film Festival in Korea as another case in point. Currently it is Asia’s number one film festival. It is also counted among the world’s top six or seven film festivals. Like the Kolkata Film Festival, the Pusan event is 16 years old. While the Kolkata festival has steadily lost its lustre, Pusan has gone from strength to strength. It isn’t difficult to see why.
The Kolkata festival is plagued by corruption and nepotism at every level. The event is controlled completely by bureaucrats and politically connected functionaries. They have a free run of the field. No wonder affairs have come to such a sorry pass.
It is not as if the Kolkata Film Festival was always like this. When it started 16 years ago, and for several years thereafter, it was a much-awaited annual celebration of the art and craft of cinema. The first director of this festival was the unimpeachable Prabodh Maitra, whose knowledge of and passion for the medium was beyond question. He has been replaced today by people whose only claim to fame is that they are close to the CM.
These men have decided they can organise a festival by doing DVD projections. They have no clue that DVD projections can never be the real thing. Amazingly, the festival director has argued that major festivals like the one in Cannes also screen DVDs. This false claim obviously stems from a lack of awareness. Has this gentleman ever been to the Cannes Film Festival? If he had, he would never ever said what he has. He would have known that what he claims to be a DVD projection is actually the screening of a master tape, or digibeta.
It is a natural urge for every nation to promote its cultural identity. An international film festival is an important means of doing that. The essence of Kolkata’s intellectual spirit could have been raised to new heights in the 16 years that this film festival has been in existence. The event could have given the city a unique branding of its own. Were that to happen, the exercise would have had the involvement of a wide cross-section of people. However, the bureaucrats at the helm have not allowed that to happen.
To get down to a more specific problem, is every film that the Kolkata Film Festival screens backed by formal permissions from the rights owners? Do they invite the makers of these films as a rule? I have my doubts. Last year, they screened my documentary film, Wagah, but they did not seek my permission nor did they extend a formal invitation to me. In the West, many producers and sales agents refuse to screen their films at festivals unless they receive a screening fee.
Why are policemen deployed in such large numbers at the festival venue? A cultural activity should be a liberating experience that encourages a free exchange of ideas. In the Nandan complex, freedom is conspicuous by its absence. Why should a filmmaker have to seek the permission of policemen to enter the premises. It’s a shame. The complex has no space for adda sessions, no restaurants and no lounges. There is no infrastructure here for people who might want to meet each other in a convivial, relaxed atmosphere.
Several steps need to be taken to salvage the festival from its inertia. First and foremost, it should be taken away from the government and handed over to an autonomous body manned by people who understand cinema. The event should also be turned into a competitive festival – that is the only way to attract high quality films. Pusan and Kerala have competitive festivals. In Kerala, the prize money is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. Moreover, the focus of the Kolkata film festival should always firmly be on Bengali cinema.
I have another crucial suggestion: the festival should have two directors, one creative, the other financial. And to make the festival really worthwhile for aspiring filmmakers, a film fund should be set up so that grants could be given to promising new projects. It is important to save the Kolkata Film Festival because the fortunes of Bengali cinema are intertwined with its health.
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri
Kapil Sibal's voters want Jan Lokpal, not Government-proposed Lokpal Bill
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on For Salman Khurshid, it is a big challenge ahead; and I personally look forward to a revolutionary couple of years ahead!
IIPM Adds Another Feather to Its Cap: This Time Gets the Best Business School of Asia Award
Item Numbers Are The New Mantras of Bollywood
Noida CEO rules out hike in land compensation
IIPM, GURGAON
Rajita Chaudhuri on ‘The Magic of Number 3 in Marketing’
Noida Extn dreams breaks as court scraps new acquisition
IIPM Marches Ahead in B-School Rankings...
No comments:
Post a Comment