JOIN USFilm lovers in the Capital were in for a treat as seven short films – ranging from award-winning films to premieres, were screened at India Habitat Centre recently. The programme was organized by Filmbooth - a short-film organisation, as part of its latest entity ‘First Cut’ - a monthly screening series which will premier short films beginning this month.
Filmbooth was founded in 2008 by a bunch of passionate young individuals to promote short-film making and interests of filmmakers.
Filmbooth believes that short films are an effective medium of expression and everybody can and should make a short film. The founder Gaurav Raturi says, “We feel short films are the answer to the new ‘20-20’ generation who have less attention span and are looking for exciting, gripping and quirky content. If Mumbai is the hub for feature films, Delhi could become the hub for short films.
In fact, we want to create an entire industry around it with our film festivals in the next two-three months starting with ‘First Cut.’
The opening of ‘First cut’ was marked by a good choice of short-films. There was Shyam Raat Seher - a 23-minute film by FTII product Arunima Sharma which won the Swarna Kamal for Best Direction. It tells the story of a middle-aged actor trying to revive his fading television career by playing Lord Krishna in a mythological serial.
Shyam… was followed by Ordinary People by Aakash Bhatia which shows how a city is an important part of any relationship and helps it deepen in its own ways. Parimal Aloke’s Saari Raat was screened in Delhi for the first time. It is a 23 minute film on the story by the same name by eminent author of Hindi literature – Kamta Nath.
Next was Urnanaabh by Zalina Gamat which has won the Kodak Film School Cinematography award, IDPA Silver for Best Student Fiction. Literally meaning ‘one who spins a web from his own navel,’ it speaks of a tattooist who is frustrated because he is not able to creatively express himself and is looking for solutions.
Kal 15 August Dukan Band Rahegi by Prateek Vats won the National Award in Best Short Fiction category with Rajat Kamal last year. Atul Taishete’s Rewind is played backwards entirely with no dialogue between characters.
The only words are the description of a narrator, who is not describing the scene but the events leading up to the scene. Lastly, Reflections by Bejoy Nambiar starring Mohan Lal portrays a writer who impersonates every person he sees.
'First Cut' will continue to screen short films made by independent as well as mainstream film makers from all over the country. Gaurav explains, “Indian short films have established their presence in the international film festival circuits all over the world. However, we rarely get to see these films being screened back home.
First Cut is a platform for not just this but also for creating a community of filmmakers who come together to watch and discuss their films - those they have made most recently and those they are working on.
This interaction, though through the pretext of a short film premier, is where we believe, the birth of a quality short film lies.”