BENGALURU: Movie buffs are in for a treat this festive week. For the first time, the 10th edition of the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF) will take place online. Last year around 300 movies were featured but this time the festival has only 150 movies, from 85 countries, which are scheduled
between August 13 and 16.The four-day festival will raise its curtains with a conversation between Swedish director and sceenplay writer Ruben Östlund, known for classics like Force Majeure and The Square, and actor Prakash Belawadi, who is the director and mentor of the festival.
There will also be sessions held by experienced members of film industry like Manoj Bajpayee and Vinay Pathak, which have been scheduled across the festival. Topics also focus on how to market and budget a short film.The festival, which also got approval as an Oscar Academy Qualifying Festival for the Short Film Awards this year, will also be holding a competition for short films. They have already got more than 3,000 entries from 85 countries.
“We have got entries from Mexico, Hawaii, Spain, France and Egypt. But we are selecting only 16 films,” says Anand Varadaraj, artistic director of BISFF. Also included is a category called ‘Let’s Include’, which will have movies dealing with societal stigmas. “The movies listed here focus on topics like disability, gender inequality etc. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a part of the screenplay. Even if the director is facing any of these issues, their movie can be a part of this category,” says Varadaraj, adding that they received 400 entries for this category.
Another special category, called ‘Let’s Pitch’ is for short filmmakers, who can send in pitches for movies within three minutes. “This is done in collaboration with Katte Movies and More, an online channel, which is going to produce one of the ideas,” says Varadaraj, adding that this category is only valid for participants from Karnataka. A special tribute will also be paid to women of the movie industry, with
National Film Award-winning film editor Beena Paul in conversation with members of Women in Cinema Collective, an organisation for women working in Malayalam cinema, scheduled for the August 16.
The move to a digital edition also led to various constraints. “This time we are dependent on donors. Part of the money collected will be the prize money and the rest will go to city-based NGO Vidyanikethan,” says Varadaraj. The event is free and will be streamed on BISFF’s website.
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Having been associated with the BISFF since inception, the Goethe Institute, the cultural association, will be screening 11 films. “The Short Export programme has six films that deal with home, self-optimisation, strong women and weak men,” says Maureen Gonsalves, cultural coordinator, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan. Films that will be screened include Ascona by Julius Dommer, UZI (Ties) by Dina Velikovskaya, We still speak German Today by Clara Winter and Miguel Ferráez, and The last five minutes of the world by Jürgen Heimüller. “The online format is new to us. With it being more accessible, we look forward to reaching out to a lot more people,” says Gonsalves. The movies will be screened on August 14 and 15.