BENGALURU: Pocket films, one of India’s largest short film distributors, associates itself with the 15th Kala Ghoda Art Festival, a premiere annual art festival in Mumbai, to organise the first official Kala Ghoda Short Film Festival (KGSFF). At a time when Mumbaikars head south for their annual fix of art and culture, cinema lovers have an added reason to be a part of KGSFF. Pocket Films is now calling for entries from budding as well as professional filmmakers.
“The idea is to promote the short film medium, which has been slowly flourishing over the last five years. There’s a pool of untapped talent out there and we want to give these artistes a space where they can take their talent forward,” says Saameer Mody, managing director, Pocket Films.
Entries are invited under two themes. The first category is Swachh Bharat. The subject for the second category is open, so that filmmakers can express themselves in a way they want. “Why we chose Swachh Bharat specifically is because this is the need of the hour. And what better way to spread awareness about a burning topic than through films?” says Saameer.
Another aspect that’s been added to encourage young talent is that they are offering two kinds of submission methods. Participants can either choose to submit entries in the short film contest alone or they can opt for the ‘contest+distribution’ category, where contesting films also stand a chance to avail additional benefits such as distribution to the worldwide audience through Pocket Films.
The festival also opens doors for the winning films to reach out to audiences through a screening and winning a certificate, prizes and accolades. Anyone is allowed to send in films, as long as they adhere to the specified guidelines.
When asked why short films are yet to catch up in India, Saameer says, “The problem is that they have to compete with mainstream media and films in the same space. Most short films get aired on websites like YouTube and DailyMotion. These spaces are also dominated by mainstream content.”
Detailed contest terms such as duration of the film, language and sub-title requirements, copyright, distribution rights, re-submission, etc., are available on www.pocketfilms.in.
Entries can be submitted online till January 7, 2015. The Kala Ghoda Festival will take off in the first week of February.