The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, which has limited seats for its sought-after courses, will be taking knowledge of filmmaking to a wider audience through short-term courses, the FTII director said at the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) on Sunday.
Speaking at the V K Murthy memorial lecture, FTII director Bhupendra Kainthola announced that they will be introducing the courses outside Pune through their project ‘Skilling India in Film and Television. “The FTII has a small intake of about 10 students per course. But, we get thousands of applications every year. We need to introduce other courses so that more people can learn the art,” he said.
The courses on digital cinema, acting, screenplay writing and so on, will be held in Tier-II cities to begin with. The plan is in place and will start with Guwahati, Jaipur and Visakhapatnam, Kainthola said.
“There are people who already have some knowledge and want to learn more. There are others who are working and cannot spare time for a three-year course. Short-term courses will be most beneficial for them. Moreover, there will be no age bar.
“The institute was mired in controversy after students went on a long strike opposing the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman. “Things are slowly getting back to normal. Admissions are open for the coming academic year,” he said.
At present, the FTII offers only post graduate diploma programmes.
“With the diploma certificate, students who wish to pursue academics and research find limited opportunities. We want to change this and provide a Master’s degree to those passing out of the FTII,” said Kainthola. They will be introducing a Choice based credit system as followed in other institutes.
On V K Murthy
“I was in the Directorate of Film Festivals and part of the committee which had to decide the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2010. One member suggested V K Murthy and everyone else agreed immediately. That was the shortest committee meeting I ever attended,” Kainthola recollected.
