Journalism of Courage
With three batches passing out simultaneously from FTII and a total of 36 diploma films being shot for the first time ever,the institute struggles under the pressure of performance
Opposite studio No. Five at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune stands an old carpentry shed that has been converted into a warehouse. It is a re-creation of a place where movie props are stored and plays a pivotal role in third year direction student,Ruchir Arun’s final diploma film. Like Arun,who is from the 2007 direction batch,35 groups from the batches of 2007,2008 and 2009 will be shooting their final year diploma films this year a first of its kind feat at the FTII.
Narain mentions that the institute recently spent Rs 6 crores procuring new cameras. Also he mentions that there will be investments to ensure that the rush of films is properly managed. We will be hiring production crews and equipments from outside. For post-production,we will hire post-production studios in Pune and Mumbai, he says. A total additional expenditure of Rs 75 lakhs has been put in to fund the completion of their projects. Of this,around Rs 50 lakhs will be towards hiring cameras,equipment and the crew,the rest will be for logistics,transport,and extra manpower that will be required for the shoots.
Still busy shooting his film,Arun says that two of his batch mates from the USA and Kazakhstan have already finished their shoot and eight more films from his batch will be shot over the next couple of months. Arun is one of the luckier students who has already begun shooting and will finish by the time the real rush begins later in November when the other batches 2008 and 2009 – will start shooting.
Sandeep Chatterjee,professor and HOD,direction,says,We were aware of the enormity of the task but it was necessary to pull the plug on the backlogs. The issue was that we were facing problems when the new batches would come in. One batch requires around five to six months to complete their diploma films. We have also worked on getting additional faculty to help guide them for the completion.
Considering that the FTII students have been bagging National Awards every year,there will be multiplicity of choice next year for the National Awards. Since three batches will be making their films,they will all be competing against one another,which itself is an issue. We will be speaking to the I&B Ministry and check what best can be worked out, he further adds.
Meanwhile,Arun is relaxed and unfazed by all the momentum at FTII and is happy that finally things will fall in place. We have worked very hard for almost five years now. Perhaps this will be a fitting farewell for us, says Arun.
