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| Second Kalpanirjhar International Short Fiction Film Festival 2004 |
The Second Kalpanirjhar International Short Fiction Film Festival 2004 enjoyed greater advance notice and coverage, in both the print and the electronic media and larger audience turnout than the first edition the year before.
Jointly presented by the Kalpanirjhar Foundation and the Goethe Institute / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata, and co-sponsored by Patton, the festival focussed this year on a Mexican package covering 2002-03, selected from a lot loaned to the festival by Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía; a selection of German contemporary shorts 2003-04, curated by Robin Mallick, Director Filmfest Dresden; and a selection from INPUT (International Public Television), introduced and presented by Abhijit Dasgupta, National Co-ordinator of INPUT for India. As a regular feature, there was of course a selection of Indian students’ films, dominated by the best of this year’s diploma films from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.
The retrospective section featured two Mrinal Sen shorts – Two Sisters and The Stranger – by courtesy of the director; Szabo’s You, Zanussi’s Death of a Provincial, Chris Marker’s La Jetée, Norman McLaren’s Narcissus, Ishu Patel’s Paradise, After Life, Bead Game – by courtesy of the National Film Archive of India; and Satyajit Ray’s Pikoo as the closing film – by courtesy of filmmaker Sandip Ray. |
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The thrust of the festival was underscored by both filmmaker Aparna Sen who inaugurated the festival, and Mrinal Sen who was guest of honour at the inaugural on 10th September 2004. It was left to the panelists – novelist Amit Chaudhuri, and filmmakers Joshy Joseph and Malay Bhattacharya – and participants from the floor including journalist and filmmaker Ananya Chatterjee – to provide fresh insights into the aesthetics of the narrative of the short fiction film – at the morning panel discussion on Modes of Storytelling in Cinema at the Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata, on 12th September.
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The Dark Side of the Moon, the inaugural film, directed by William Karel, had a great impact on the audience in the manner in which it combined fact and fiction to open up a complex discourse on truth in the media.
An audience poll on the German, Mexican and Indian packages led to the following nominations:
Federal Republic of Germany
- The Last Train, dir. Tom Uhlenbruck
- Rocks, dir. Chris Stenner, Arvid Uibel, Heidi Wittlinger
Mexico
- The Cornfield, dir. Patricia Riggen
- Deep Silence, dir. Gustavo Loza
India
- Girni, dir. Umesh Kulkarni
- Oadh, dir. Dhiraj Meshram
Rocks qualified as the most popular film of the festival.
Russian Cultural Centre), represented a cross-section of the artists, writers, film critics, and film students of the metropolis. Latecomers had to be turned away from some of the full house screenings. With the growing popularity of the festival and sections of the audience coming up with fresh ideas and suggestions, the organisers have already started making contacts and preparations for the Third Kalpanirjhar International Short fiction Film Festival 2005. Those interested can look up the festival website at www.kalpanirjhar.com or get in touch by E-mail at kalpanirjhar@gmail.com
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