Shooting stars
Shilpi Gulati had grown up listening to the tales of her grandparents, who belonged to a place called Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan, and the trauma they faced, when they were forced to move to Delhi during the partition.
When she took up a course in media, she along with her batchmate, Divya Cowasji, decided to take it up as a theme for filming a documentary titled Dere Tun Dilli.
“It is a huge problem to raise funds for independent documentary films. We were lucky to receive a fellowship sponsored by Jamshedji Tata Trust and our alma mater, TISS” says Shilpi, an M. Phil student at JNU.
Young documentary film makers have been growing by the dozen in the city. While many of them are students of mass communication, media or film-making, there are absolute freshers too. Though it has always been a challenge finding proper training and mentoring to support documentary films, says Gargi Sen, a mentor and director, Magic Lantern Movies Limited. “We have decided to bring in a year-long programme to bring tutors and filmmakers together to guide and support documentary projects under production. In addition, we will also look at marketing, screening and international exhibition of documentaries,” she says. MLML has collaborated with Claas Danielsen, a legendary documentary filmmaker and founder DOK Leipzig (a renowned international festival of documentaries) to start, DocWok programme.
The programme has selected six rough cuts (unedited footage meant to be strung together into a film) from 34 entries from across the country, that will receive holistic guidance. “Having worked in corporate field for about two years, I realised this is not what I would love to do. I joined a film club that discusses films and conducts workshop. Now, I am shooting for my own documentary,” says Ritwik Gupta.
Not just formal programmes, but even informal film clubs are also coming up. Founded in mid-2011, Film Buffs of Delhi (FBD) is one such group. “We provide a platform to engage with fellow cinephiles and learn the finer aspect of films and film-making,” says Abhishek Joshi, founder member, FBD.
Currently underway, Cinema Calling by Mark 5 Films is another workshop where participants will be living and shooting in the wilderness in the city and Jim Corbett National Park. “Workshops like these are the best mediums for film making enthusiasts, before taking that ‘big decision’ or spending lakhs on film making courses,” says Vikram Khattar, founder and creative head, Mark 5 Films.
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