Real life dramas

...

TWO years ago the 8th Mumbai International Film Festival MIFF made news for all the wrong reasons. At India8217;s biggest international festival for documentary, short and animation films, the then NDA government insisted Clause 8 of the Censorship Act be strictly followed which effectively kept out a film based on the Gujarat riots. This time there was no such conflict. MIFF 2006, in fact, had members of the protesting group of 2004 in the selection committee.

8216;8216;It is definitely a magnificent festival with contents of films that are stunning as well as appealing,8217;8217; says Michael Yorke, an anthropologist- turned-filmmaker who specialises in South Asia. He adds that documentary shows never get too many viewers back in the UK. 8216;8216;I am amazed to find all the three theatres running houseful in the festival.8217;8217;

Documentary filmmaking in India goes back a long way but the documentary film fest was born only forty years after the first International Film Festival of India IFFI in 1952. We have a rich tradition of making documentary films, with Satyajit Ray and others leading from the front,8217;8217; says Raghu Krishna, chief producer of Films Division, a wing of the I038;B ministry, which also organises the MIFF.

8216;8216;Bollywood has dominated the film world so much that there is no space for documentaries. But the MIFF, despite being a government-sponsored festival, has created that much-needed space. The people need documentary films; it is part of the opinion building process. And this is where MIFF is a major platform,8217;8217; says filmmaker Girish Kasaravally.

That Indian documentaries have come of age is proved by the fact that the MIFF had received over 400 entries for its two competitive sections, compelling selectors to sit through 170 hours of viewing time to select films that would fit into 80 hours.

8216;8216;This itself proves that documentary films are here to stay. And look how filmmakers with no formal training are competing with FTII graduates and international award-winning in the same level playing ground,8217;8217; points out fimmaker Anand Patwardhan.