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After the conclusion of each edition of the International Film Festival, one can see the people from all walks of life, delegates as well as non-delegates reflecting upon how the festival worked out, and this year, the reactions have not been very encouraging. For starters, many delegates stated that the inaugural ceremony did not live up to their expectations. While the choice of films screened during the festival was appreciated, there were a number of issues in ticketing. Apparently there were some instances where the ticket-holders were left standing outside the venues and ticketless rush-lines were allowed inside.
Some delegates also held that a majority of in-conversation and masterclass sessions were conducted by bollywood personalities, and there were not many experts from abroad delivering talks and lectures.
“Master-classes and in-conversation sessions could be better,” said filmmaker and director Deepak Lobo “David Dhawan, Varun Dhawan, Janhavi Kapoor et al are great crowd-pullers. But if you look at Janhavi, she is relatively new in the industry. I do not think she would be able to give deep knowledge through a talk.” Lobo further underlined that most of the people conducting such sessions were actors or directors, and more people from technical backgrounds need to be brought in to share their knowledge.
Further on, Arun, a Chennai-based filmmaker also noted some sessions used more Hindi, which made it difficult for some sections of the audience to understand the lectures. “Masterclasses are no doubt, very important, but I would appreciate it if the speaker sticks to English, because there is wide spectrum of audience from all over India in attendance.” He did not mind if the festival had more national flavour, but underlined that everyone should be able to relate to the events. On the other hand, RK Jain, a writer from Delhi who has also written scripts for some serials on Doordarshan, opined that along with film screenings, talks and lectures too should have more of an international flavour.
Ameya Joshi, assistant professor at Dhempe college, Panaji .believed that the quality of audience at masterclass sessions also could be affected this year. “If crowd-pulling Bollywood celebrities are conducting a master-class, how many of the attendees are there to gain the knowledge and how many are there just to catch a glimpse of their favourite star?” asked the professor. “Platforms for such sessions should be given to experienced veterans of the film industry who can guide aspiring filmmakers.” he added.
“Conversation sessions should not just be limited to Bollywood. We should take in ideas from around the world” said C Shekhar Jaiswal, a director from Mumbai. “I do not think this year’s IFFI is fulfilling that goal.” He has been attending IFFI since 2004, and said that the quality of the festival has deteriorated over time.
A volunteer at the Film Festival said on condition of anonymity that there are certain budget constraints on IFFI this year, and thus, efforts have been made to make the event ‘affordable’. This has impacted the list of celebrities invited at the festival, said the volunteer cryptically. This information could not be confirmed.
