The Hindu : Puri's free-for-all film festival

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 20, 2004

National

National

Puri's free-for-all film festival

By Gowri Ramnarayan

PURI, FEB. 19. ``No entry formalities, no bureaucracy, no hierarchy, no hassles, just sun and sand and cinema. Land up with your film and we will screen it. If you have no film, come to watch, lie in the sand, go for a swim, take a walk.''

So says Bring Your Own Film Festival (BYOFF, February 20-23) launched here today for fans and makers of documentaries and short films at a hotel on the Puri beach. The venues are equipped with projection facilities for screenings in various source formats. There is no censorship for `entries' and no selection process.

Organised by an adventurous group of film-makers, it promises freedom and camaraderie generated by the unusual location and the unique format. The idea is to create a space away from the madding crowd and bureaucratic machinery, where artistes can unwind, share their work, experiences and thoughts with fellow-film-makers and viewers. The festival hopes to fill a need to have a platform for creative interactions among makers of documentaries and shorts — genres for which India has few channels of distribution and exhibition.

Not surprisingly, BYOFF has received an overwhelming response. Among the 200 film-makers and cinematographers who are expected are some foreign artistes looking for a taste of the offbeat show and the temple town.

E-mail has played a huge part in putting it all together. ``Something magical is going to happen and your participation is required for that,'' is the festival's call. The aim is to make the event as democratic and inclusive as possible. Debutants get priority.

The focus is on alternative voices in experimental, independent cinema. But conceptual, visual and performing artistes will get the space to showcase their work between screenings. The attempt is to establish a sense of community and intimacy among artistes from different genres of expression. Plans for BYOFF were on long before controversy erupted recently over selection procedures at the Government-organised MIFF 2004 (Mumbai International Film Festival of Documentaries, Shorts, Animation). BYOFF's timing adds to the voice of the film-makers who were shocked by overt and covert attempts at MIFF to censor films critical of government policy. Their first protest festival in Mumbai, named Vikalp, drew packed halls, particularly for films that depicted the Gujarat carnage. That was when independent film-makers spoke about the need for channels of exhibition free of red tape and censorship.

BYOFF could well be an answer to this need, especially if it is able to present annual editions in different small-town venues. BYOFF lacks neither confidence nor enthusiasm when it warns that it may not close according to schedule, but ``wind up only when everybody is ready to leave.''

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