
Two films by FTII students – Zalina Gamat and Gayatri Joshi – made it to the winners’ list at the IDPA Awards
One tells the story of the desire to connect with another,while the second narrates a tale of lost memories. The subject of both these films – Urnanaabh and Memories – struck a chord with the jury of the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA). Filmed by direction students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII),Zalina Gamat and Gayatri Joshi,the films won awards at the IDPA Awards announced on Monday in Mumbai.
Gamat won the silver trophy in the ‘Excellence in Short Fiction’ section,while Joshi won the silver trophy in the ‘Excellence in Animation’ section. A third film Utsav by the animation students of FTII also won a Special Jury Mention. Joshi’s animated film showed how memories of a happy childhood are slowly erased under the garb of modernisation. “A little girl who remembers her home and the greenery has to be content with the fact that they will only be memories and nothing will be the same again. The greener has been replaced by the cement jungle around her, Joshi says. Her film was also screened at the 4th Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala and was selected for Chitrakatha ’11 – the third edition of the International Student Animation Festival of Gujarat.
Post this recognition,Gamat is working on a couple of scripts and is completing the post production for a documentary that she shot in Arunachal Pradesh. My style of film-making is very different from commercial cinema. I am happy doing this as of now, she says.