The ‘4th Suchitra Short Film Festival’, which was held recently, was inaugurated by acclaimed director Shoojit Sircar.
More than 200 short films were received by the organisers for the competitive section of the event, along with many other short films for the non-competitive section.
While the competitive section saw work by professionals and students, the non-competitive section also included an international section, travelling package from the Oberhausen Film Festival, short films from School of Film Directing at the University of Gothenburg as well as a section of work by Suchitra CFD students.Shoojit could be seen interacting with the budding film-makers and most wanted to know his mantra of success.
“I am glad that I came here and am looking forward to meeting the students as well as the young film-makers,” he said.
The festival also featured master classes by Juhi Chaturvedi, the script writer of ‘Vicky Donor’ and dialogue writer of ‘Madras Cafe’; Vasu Dixit, the lead singer of Swarathma and actor-director Prakash Belawadi.
Bharath MC, a budding film-maker and a participant, said that film festivals have always been a good way to promote up-and-coming talent and encourage youngsters to follow their passion.
“My film is called ‘Black Ops’. It is an action film. I feel that there is a need to conduct more such festivals in the City, so that people like us get a pedestal to showcase our
talent. This is not the first time that I have participated in an event. Film festivals are one of the first platforms where we can showcase our films. We also put up our work on popular websites, so that more people can see it,” he says. Despite a spell of rain, many attended the festival and met Shoojit.
Madan Ramvenkatesh, one of the attendees, was full of praises for the quality of films being showcased at the festival. “Whenever it comes to short films, Suchitra chooses the best. As film-makers, we get to see a wide variety of films and different perspectives. It is one place where all kinds of film can be enjoyed under one roof. I showcased my film last year and it got very good reviews from people,” he says.