BENGALURU:The 10th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival came to a close on Thursday. The usual throng of film enthusiasts flocked to the screenings, talks and workshops and masterclasses just like previous editions.
For Sharath who has been doing the rounds of the annual fest for a few years now, it’s time that future editions offer something better to look forward to. “The fest this time was quite boring. The previous edition was a bit better. However, the fest has been more or less the same since the time I first attended it,” he says.
A well-known film critic from the city who has attended almost every edition of the fest feels that the fest needs a relook and even a reinvention of sorts. “I feel this time the festival was exceptionally bad. There were a number of glitches in the screenings, subtitles of some of the movies were bad. One would have thought by now that such things would get sorted out in its 10th year,” he adds.
For all the complaints, the organisers themselves seem to have their hands tied. Two major problem that plagues the fest is the government’s reluctance to appoint a fixed calendar of events for the fest and ad-hoc appointments of festival organisers. This, say organisers cripple their ability to think creatively as to how to make the BIFFES even more appealing. Constant appeals and requests to look into these problems have been sent to the government but have fallen on deaf ears.
Time needed for curation
“Since the first edition, organisers have got only two or three months to prepare. How can anyone do anything in such a short time? Planning for most film festival takes place the moment the previous one ends. It is also a year-long effort,” says Anand Vardaraj, the former deputy director of the fest and president, Suchitra Film Society that organised the first few editions of the BIFFes before being taken over by the government.
With more time, things like curating movies could be done better organisers point out. One of the most common concerns according to many attendees whom CE spoke to was the quality of the movies. Sandeep Jassan, a film enthusiast and a music composer, says, “I came for two days and saw around 13 movies. However, out of the 13, I felt that only four were worthy of being screened at the festival,” he says.
Prominent Kannada film director, Girish Kasaravalli says the fest follows the same format of movie screenings such as those in Berlin and Cannes. He, however, acknowledged that movies shown at BIFFES could be curated better. “There should be no pressure from any quarters to show a particular movie. It is an international festival and the reputation of the state and the country is at stake. Even some of the Kannada movies should not have been screened here. It was not the right platform,” he says.
Staff crunch
As of now, the fest is managed by a core group of around 10 people. Even interactions initiated for the fest with filmmakers are at the level of an individual rather than an institution. Anand further points out that fests such as the Goa Film Festival has a staff of around 250 people and with more time in hand. “We need people just to look at e-mails so as to keep a track of people who want to participate, advertise and write content,” he adds. He further says to train people in organising festivals, they should be sent to different festivals and get to learn the best from there and apply it here. This, however, does not happen and most of them go on their own.
N Vidyashankar, artistic director of BIFFES, is of the belief that in terms of content, the fest is top notch, but a number of things can definitely be improved to make it more “professional.” “We need a separate and autonomous organisation, such as a directorate of festivals, to take care of things. Right now, I am using my own personal contacts, others are using theirs,” he adds.
Specific identity needed
Vidyashanker points out that there are film fests around the world that have specific identities. “There is the Sundance Film Fest that is meant for independent films, there are others that are for debutante filmmakers. We focus on a number of things. We have focused on biopictures, tried to feature works by movie makers from lesser-known places parts, and also added a number of masterclasses and workshops,” he says.
Director and producer Pawan Kumar points out that there is a need to do more to increase its identity. “As a festival, BIFFes needs to establish a very strong identity. Otherwise, it just becomes five days of movie screenings and nothing else. We definitely need better selections of films and more interactive sessions. As of now, I think the BIFFes does not have a particular reputation. This needs proper planning and complete ownership, for which, I think, the organisers need more time and more effort. We in the film fraternity, would like to do more, but are more involved in in our own work.” he adds.
While he does not agree with th argument that the fest needs any changes, Vidyashankar however, admits If he got more time, many aspects of BIFFes can be improved. “As of now, there are a lot of schedule changes. It can be better planned. There can also be better arrangements in terms of hospitality for guests, audience and the media. We would also like to use more technology,” he says. With less time in hand, organisers rely on a tried and tested template followed in previous years, adds Vidyahsnkar. “With more time, we could have a regular international competition, that is being done in other fests.”
Suggestions
The fest, according to regular BIFFES attender Sharath, witnessed a few quarrels at the entry due to confusion on who gets to go in. As of now, it’s first-come-first-serve. He suggests bringing about a barcode system where you can buy tickets beforehand, and your seats are already allocated.
Marathon of movies
Sridhar Rangayan, director of a movie that was screened at the fest, suggests a breathing space between sessions where directors could talk about their movies and even introduce the cast of their movies. Besides a few masterclasses and talks, it is usually a marathon of movies from day one.
Official Speaks
Dr P S Harsha IPS, commissioner, Department of Information and Public Relations, co-organiser of the BIFFES, says that it is the responsibility of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy to manage the fest. “To say that there is no separate institution to manage the fest would be wrong. In the academy we have a permanent institution to do that”. Harsha admitted that there is no annual, fixed calendar for BIFFES. “We are presently consulting with the Tourism Department to draw out a calendar for the BIFFES along with other events in the state,” he adds.