Short shrift

But in good old Kolkata documentaries continue to be poor cousins to feature films. In the grandest film event of its calendar,The Kolkata Film Festival (KFF),documentaries and non-fiction films have been pushed to the fringes,or so claims filmmaker Sourav Sarangi. “I will never screen my films in KFF. Documentary filmmakers don’t get the respect they deserve and their films are shown in a dingy hall in the Bangla Academy,” says Sarangi. Sarangi’s decision may prove to be a huge disappointment for Kolkata film lovers for his latest film Bilal has managed to earn laurels and awards in different festivals across the world. “I have been to different other festivals around the world nowhere do they treat documentary filmmakers as badly. There is no proper literature announcing our presence in the KFF and even our posters aren’t properly displayed,” says Sarangi.

Kolkata-based filmmaker,Joshy Joseph,who screened his film And the Bamboo Blooms in KFF a few years back,has harsher points to make. “Like all departments,the documentary section of the KFF is poorly handled. It’s a great pity that they don’t recognize the fact that documentary filmmaking is the most vibrant genre now. Festivals across the world include documentaries in the main section of the festival,strangely enough KFF has a separate section for them. This,I believe is a stepmotherly treatment,” says Joseph.

In 2007,Shyamal Karmakar’s documentary film I am the Very Beautiful was scheduled to be screened at the KFF,but the screening had to be stopped midway. “The hall (at Bangla Academy) was not suitable for such screenings. Light was seeping through windows and the seating arrangement was such that people had to peep over each others shoulders to watch the film,” says Karmakar. Yet,he recognizes the efforts taken by festival organizers. “There is a lot of scope for improvement but it’s also true that the organizers were very cooperative. I would advise them to change the venue so that we get a proper platform,” he says. In 2008,the screening of his award-winning film,Setu,went “satisfactorily well” says Karmakar.

Meanwhile,the authorities claim that their attitude towards documentary films has,if anything,“improved in the last few years”. “We decided to have a separate section for documentary films and short films six years ago. This was because we wanted to give documentary films a separate platform where they aren’t stifled by larger films. We also encourage upcoming filmmakers to screen their films in our festival. Students of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and Roop Kala Kendro screen their films regularly here. For the past two years we have been giving out certificate of merits to the participating filmmakers. Aren’t this modes of encouragement?” asks Robin Banerjee,programme coordinator,Short films association,KFF.

Joshy Joseph has the last word. “All this is good but why don’t they allocate us a proper hall?” he retorts. Touché.

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