The documentary,Pure Pune,made by the students from UK,focuses on traditional Indian cooking and the art of tailor-making dresses Representing a totally alien culture and coming to research a culture that is incongruous to them,is probably the most apt description that one can find for these six students who have come all the way from the United Kingdom to make a documentary film about the city. Daniel Straw,Richard Heath,Sarah Peczek,Holliya Bryan,Ben Welborn and Alice Stevens,who are students from the Northern Film School at the Leeds Metropolitan University,have been in the city for over a month to observe these fine aspects about the city to make their documentary. The group,which arrived in the city on September 2,have come as a part of an exchange programme with the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Speaking more about it Sarah,who is also the editor of the film says,We had actually set up the idea of coming to Pune way back in January but it kept getting delayed owing to reasons that were not in our hands. However,we finally came down to the city to get our film project done. We were in talks with FTII regarding the making of this film and we are glad that it worked out just fine. With the International Students' Film Festival also coinciding with their stay,the students feel that it was a good chance that they had to watch some of the films. Some of them had really interesting themes,something that we would surely like to work on, says,Richard,the cinematographer in the group. Their own documentary Pure Pune is based on two aspects of the city. While beginning work on our own documentary,we spent the first few days travelling around the city and understanding its culture and pulse. After that,we decided that we would make the film on two distinct aspects that we found interesting- Tailor made clothes and Cooking, he adds. The 15-minute documentary saw the six students go out into the markets to buy cloth and then get it stitched from the tailors,it also saw them try their hand at making mutter paneer. Daniel,the producer,who is also the presenter of the film,says,It was a unique experienc. Right from telling the shopkeepers about the project,to seeing an amused tailor while he was taking measurements for Alice's clothes,it was all there . In fact,the most unique experience was cooking,where I tried to cook the dish only to fail miserably. In the end I became a helper as someone helped us out to make the film. All six of them,however,do agree that there is a lot of colour and noise in the city that gives it a carnival-like feeling. The sheer vibrancy here and the energy associated with the young crowd is something that has appealed to all our senses, says Daniel. Oh,and we would definitely want to come back here to make another film, adds Alice promptly,as the other members nod their heads in agreement.
