College students recall the big BIFFes assignment

Thousands of filmmakers, movie aspirants and viewers walked in and out of the just-concluded Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes 2022) over eight days. But a few things were constant. Like the 130 college students or so who stood outside the screens and gates as volunteers from 9 am till the last show of the day.

They gave Metrolife a ringside view of the festival, recounting the good moments, not-so-pleasant ones and lessons.

The good part

All these students are pursuing media and journalism courses in Bengaluru. They were working for a film festival for the first time, a paid assignment they knew would look good on their resume as they got a chance to dabble in content writing, proofreading, media coordination, venue management, and anchoring.

Plus, it has been a massive test of their people’s skill, the ability to think on their feet and team work, most often in situations when a screening or a panel discussion had to be paused to honour a guest who arrived late or needed to leave to catch a flight.

Pragnyadeepta G, 25, says “the scale was 1,000 times bigger than a college event” but she put her best behaviour forward through small crises, which meant keeping a smile on the face all times. “For the cast and crew of a film, it was their moment to shine… It was not just about us or them but also the reputation of our college, our city,” she explained. She was managing one of the screening venues.

She saw the lesser-known — competing directors, actors and technicians check out each other’s works and exchange words of appreciation.

Her batchmate Rakshitha Raghavan, who was deputed as a photographer, recalls a sweet gesture.

“I got emotional after watching a Tamil film. The director and actors walked up to me later and said they saw me cry. From that day on, they would ask me ‘How are you?’ and ‘Have you eaten?’ every time we met,” says the 22-year-old.

G Darshan, another venue manager, managed to get a photo with Malayalee actor Unni Mukundan. “I knew I was invading his privacy but he obliged to my request politely,” he recalls.

The best part, however, was that they were getting to work and bond with their batchmates, who they had mostly seen on computer screens because of the pandemic.

Window of opportunities

The festival opened up a lot of networking opportunities.

Pragnyadeepta “made a few contacts”. “I approached T S Nagabharana (award-winning director) to tell him that I have researched on Kannada films,” shares Rakshitha. A female volunteer “got offers for emceeing”.

Then there is 23-year-old Nisarga J. She started working with BIFFes in 2016 and she now comes in as a senior volunteer co-ordinating multiple venues.

Pesky problems

Some students recounted to Metrolife the issues that irked members of the film fraternity.

Some demanded non-veg food as the coupons were only meant for the vegetarian fare.

One objected to the use of flash photography inside cinema halls. A few attending the gold-class shows disapproved of volunteers “chilling inside the hall” to watch movies, and asked them to go outside.

At times, shout-fest ensued. One delegate shouted at volunteers over “seat issues” but realised his mistake and bought chocolates to apologise.

A director arrived five minutes late for a screening but “argued” that he be given the memento ahead of other guests. A movie director got upset with the higher-ups at BIFFes when the poster of his film was not put up ahead of the screening.

Frowns over the delay in cabs to the venue and back, “warm” air conditioning and cold green tea were aplenty.

Crowd management was the biggest challenge though. “No matter how many times we told them, the audience would exit from the entry door, where crowd was already standing outside in long queues. We made an exception for senior citizens,” says Nisarga.

Or, take this: “Some people wanted to sit in the first two rows that were reserved for delegates.”

Darshan adds, “One man kept on walking in and out of the screening hall and I kept on asking him to show the ‘entry pass’ as part of the protocol. He got mad
at me.”

Some volunteers said that eating out for eight days upset their stomachs while others took leave because of other health reasons, prompting others to step up.

Nisarga has only one grouse: “I had 10 films to watch on my wishlist but I could make time only for one!”