Once again a buffet of movies at BIFFE !

“Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.” — Ingmar  Bergman, Renowned  Swedish  Director

By Dr. Veena Bharathi

After a hiatus, a lull of nearly two years, Suneel Puranik (who got elected as the Chairman of the Karnataka Chalana Chitra Academy in January 2020), who was instrumental in conducting the 12th edition of BIFFE in February 2020, is totally in an enthusiastic, dynamic mood to conduct the 13th edition of BIFFE, along with his team.

On the eve of Bengaluru International Film Festival, Dr. Veena Bharathi spoke to Suneel Puranik (Chairman of Chalana Chitra Academy), P. Seshadri (renowned award-winning Movie Director and Coordinator of BIFFE) and Narahari (Artistic Director)  on behalf of Star of Mysore. Now read on…

Star of Mysore (SOM): What are the highlights of BIFFE – 2022?

Suneel Puranik: This is the very first BIFFE (Bengaluru International Film Festival) which we are hosting, after obtaining the International Accreditation by IFFPA (International Federation of Film Producers’ Association-Paris). IFFPA (or FIAPF) is in-charge of regulating International Film Festivals.

Also, this is the very first time that the BIFFE has become a hybrid festival, both virtual (online) and physical (in 3 venues).

SOM: What were the protocols and norms laid down by the IFFPA to accord accreditation?

Suneel Puranik: The International Accreditation for the Film Festival is based on the technical values and content of the films, overall quality of the films (that are to be screened this year and also of the movies already screened in previous BIFFEs), the way we treat and play host to the International delegates, availability of infrastructure to conduct the festival, all these pre-requisites would have been taken into consideration, for according the accreditation. Of the 5,000 International Film Festivals which are hosted every year in different parts of the globe, so far only 45 International Film Festivals were given the FIAPF’s accreditation.

BIFFE – 13th edition is the 46th International Film Festivals to have got the accreditation. In India, BIFFE is the 5th host of International Film Festival units, to have got the accreditation after IFFI (Goa), MAMI (Mumbai), IFFK (Kerala) and the Kolkata Film Festival.

SOM: Which are the core areas that you recognise where we need to improve as far as the Indian movies are concerned to become globally competitive?

Suneel Puranik: We make content based films, but we still need to improve in the field of visual quality of the movies and we need to magnify and ramify the content of the film, without compromising on the essence and depth, as far as the content of the film is concerned.

SOM: What is the main theme of BIFFE – 13th edition?

Suneel Puranik: We are celebrating the theme of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” coinciding with the 75th year of Independent India’s celebrations. A few movies have been selected to be screened to suit the occasion of “Amrit Mahotsav” celebrations. Also since this year’s “Country Focus” is on France, five French language movies will  be screened.

Whereas the Sate focus is on North Eastern Indian States, hence, selected movies from Assam, Nagaland and Manipur will be screened.

SOM: In 2018 BIFFE, retrospective of Mrinal Sen, Ingmar Begman and Ambarish were held, which are of the retrospectives that would be held in BIFFE – 13th edition?

Suneel Puranik: Retrospective movies of Kannada actress Bharathi, who has acted in multiple Indian languages will be held. Also a retrospective of German Director Volker Scaldroff will be held.

SOM: What does BIFFE offer for students of Film Institutes?

Suneel Puranik: We have made arrangements for Master classes to be held for the students of various Film Institutes in an auditorium, facilitating open discussions on the popular films that are going to be screened. Also, there is a special tribute session dedicated to Puneeth Rajkumar and Sanchari Vijay by the students.

13th BIFFE – Festival Coordinator and Award-winning Film Director P. Seshadri speaks about celluloid and OTT:

SOM: Could you explain the difference in impact on the audience by the celluloid and OTT platforms and the background of celluloid in India?

Seshadri: Movie watching in a theatre is an entirely different, pleasant experience when compared to the OTT platform. In 1886, there was no language for the Indian movies, it was the “silent or the Mooki era.” In 1934, the very first Kannada talkie movie was released, that was ‘Sati Sulochana’. Till 2012, it was the celluloid era, where story selection and narration used to be given importance. In 2012, OTT (Over the Top) started evolving.

Though film industry is a market driven industry, Producers and Directors of OTT should be mature enough to analyse the audience’ psyche and should aim to observe quality and content with a sensible presentation and narration. Digitisation or OTT should not induce “Binge Watching”. Movies made for the OTT platform preferably should be message-oriented and create “Mano vikasa” (thought provoking) in the viewers. A sense of social responsibility is vital for such directorial teams, so as not to corrupt the audience’ mind.

Narahari, Artistic Director and his team are responsible for selection and curating of the films for the Festival. He too has answered the queries by SOM:

SOM: Could you explain your role in BIFFE? And tell about various categories of the movies?

Narahari: An Artistic Director is involved in planning and designing the Festival Menu.

There are various sections such as Cinema of the World, Asian Cinema Competition, Indian Cinema Competition (Chitra Bharati), Kannada Cinema Competition and also Kannada Cinema popular entertainment section.

There will be a special screening of the 1941 Kannada Classic “Vasantha Sena”.

Movies selected for the 2021-BIFFE have also been included since the Festival could not happen last year due to the Covid second wave.

SOM: How long did the process of selection of movies stretch and what were the stages involved in selecting the movies?

Narahari: Entries are screened usually 12-14 weeks before the inauguration of the Festival, though this year, there were hardly 8-weeks of time due to the 3rd Covid wave and the uncertainty of its duration.

In each section 70-80 films were screened out of which the Preliminary Jury has selected 14 Films in each section as entry to the Festival. During BIFFE, the Special Jury will select only 3 Films for awarding the First, Second and the Special Jury prizes in each section, with the country focus on France, five-French Films are screened. Also seven Non American Oscar-competing foreign language Films will be screened.

CM to inaugurate

The event will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai tomorrow (Mar. 3) evening at GKVK and will conclude on Mar. 10 at the Tata Institute. The hybrid event will take place at Orion Mall-Rajajinagar, Suchitra Film Society – Banashankari, Kalavidara Sangha orDr. Raj Kumar Bhavan in Chamarajpet. Totally  200 movies  from various countries will be screened over a week’s duration.

This year’s BIFFE will be dedicated to the Covid Warriors and Frontline Workers.

“Pinki Elli?” Kannada movie directed by Prithvi Konanur, is selected for competing both in the Asian Cinema Competition and Indian Cinema (Chitra Bharati) Competition. The movie “NOT TODAY” by Aditya Kripalani deals with suicide prevention theme.