An event organised by Indian Independent Filmmakers Worldwide is a good place to meet other members of the scattered Hindie community. The IIFW was formed in 2007 but it’s only over the last few months that it has become busy, organising master classes with directors Shekhar Kapur, Shyam Benegal and Danny Boyle. The organisation plans to hold an indie festival and give out its Indie Spirit awards later in the year.
The IIFW was formed to establish a network of independent-minded Indian filmmakers oth in the country and across the world, said Ketan Mehta, the organisation’s chairperson. Mehta is among the IIFW’s founding members, along with filmmakers Aditya Bhattacharya, Shekhar Kapur, Kabir Bedi and journalist-turned-producer Bhuvan Lall. “We need a platform to exchange notes and information and support and nurture each other,” Mehta added. “We need to strengthen existing financing and distribution networks and perhaps create new ones.”
See www.iifw.in.
Passion for Cinema
What do Anurag Kashyap (Dev.D), Dibakar Banerjee (Khosla Ka Ghosla), Nishikant Kamat (Mumbai Meri Jaan), Navdeep Singh (Manorama Six Feet Under) and Shashanka Ghosh (Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II) have in common? Apart from being Hindie filmmakers, all of them write on the website passionforcinema.com. Established by Los Angeles-based software professional Pankaj Sikka aka Oz in 2006, PFC has become a platform for filmmakers to express their views, give progress reports on their upcoming films and share their problems.
Sikka doesn’t feel that his site is a hub for Hindiewallahs. “A film is a film is a film,” Sikka said. “If we like it, we express our love in print. If we hate it, we trash it in the posts. No filters are required.” Yet, his efforts indicate that his heart beats for the Hindie. For instance, PFC presented Missed Call at the Indian Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2007. In January, the website ran a contest for one-minute films that was judged by a panel which included Shashanka Ghosh and Sriram Raghavan.
The Indie Indie
“An idea incubated by many minds isn’t independent. Anything that is plagiarised won’t make the cut. Anything that has a distributor attached to it right from the beginning won’t either, since there are no challenges for such filmmakers to work with. What will make the cut is a film whose crew is working without a safety net, where you don’t necessarily know how you’re going to make your money.”
Production co-ordinator Aliya Curmally is clear about the kind of films she wants to feature on www.theindieindie.com. The site is aimed at helping independent-minded professionals find kindred souls to work with. “The website was set up with the intention of providing information on independent film cultures as well as connecting people with various indie productions,” Curmally said. “You will find out how to crew up for projects.” Nandini Ramnath
Source : Time Out Mumbai ISSUE 1 Friday, September 03, 2010
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