Documentary film festival unspools

MUMBAI, MARCH 1: At the inauguration of the fifth Mumbai International Film Festival for documentary, short and animation films (MIFF '98), ...

MUMBAI, MARCH 1: At the inauguration of the fifth Mumbai International Film Festival for documentary, short and animation films (MIFF ’98), inaugurated at the Nehru Centre on Sunday evening, the buzz was, like always, the need to make the festival an annual event. This has been a promise made tow years ago by state minister for culture, Pramod Navalkar.

“MIFF has come a long way in a very short period. But one major drawback is the long gap between two festivals. Perhaps, in a democratic process, promises take time to materialise,” remarked Malayalam film maker and chief guest for the evening, Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Navalkar himself reiterated his promise in his address, without, however, committing himself to a date. He applauded the role of documentary and short films in maintaining an authentic record of history. “Festivals like MIFF are important because short films are one of the most powerful mediums to record events of this historic century,” he said.

The government announced a special cashprize of Rs one lakh for the award-winning film in the documentary and animation section. A first day cover stamp of MIFF ’98 was also released by chief secretary P Subramanyan.

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Gopalakrishnan also presented veteran documentary film maker Fali Bilimoria the Dr V Shantaram Award for lifetime achievement. Remarked Bilimoria, whose film The House Ananda Built was the only Indian documentary to have won an Oscar nomination in 1968, this award was very special “because it is something I have got for all my forty years, and not for any one film.” The festival opened with Venu Arora’s feature Nirankush, based on real life events in the life of a social worker who sets out on a journey to the interiors of Rajasthan and wages a lone battle against female infanticide.

Today’s screenings

Inauguration of the retrospectives and special screenings by Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

* The Glass by Bert Haanstra: This 1958 film plays on mixed audience emotions toward industrialization.

* Angela Haardt presents thefirst programme from the Archive of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, titled The Sixties – The Air of Freedom.

* Anand Patwardhan’s Ram Ke Naam.

* Patricio Guzman’s In The Name of God.

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