The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A chance to bring out the filmmaker in you

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A chance to bring out the filmmaker in you

Ananth Krishnan

Entries invited for first ever online film festival ‘PFCOne’

CHENNAI: Ever felt you had the talent to be a Spielberg or a Mani Ratnam locked up inside you? Now here’s your chance to finally let it out.

Passionforcinema.com (PFC), an independent website that seeks to bring together filmmakers and cinema lovers to discuss the art form, has announced the first ever online film festival titled ‘PFCOne.’

The website is inviting entries on any topic and in any language (as long as you make sure it’s subtitled), and aspiring filmmakers are free to capture their visions on video, digital or movie cameras, camcorders and even mobile phones. The only condition — your films have to be only a minute long.

Just like in any other film festival, auteurs will have their works judged by a panel of distinguished jurors, including Anurag Kashyap (director ‘Black Friday’, soon-to-released ‘No Smoking’ and writer for ‘Guru’ and ‘Yuva’), Sudhir Mishra (‘Khoya Khoya Chaand’, ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’, ‘Dharavi’), Nishikant Kamat (national award winner for ‘Dombivili Fast’) and Suparn Verma (‘Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena’, ‘Qayamat’).

The best one-minute films will be screened on the website between December 1 and December 5, while prizes include film and screen-writing internships with some of the above directors and writers.

“PFCOne is more than just about the competition or the prizes,” says Karthik Krishnan, a member and writer at PFC.

“Our intention is to motivate anyone who wants to make a film to make that jump, and for film-lovers to stop talking and just go out and make a film.”

Mr. Karthik says the PFC was set up by lovers of cinema from different walks of life a year ago to give them a much-needed platform to discuss their passion. “This is a place where lovers of cinema can discuss the art, and I don’t mean film gossip,” he says. Here, film enthusiasts are welcome to dissect anything about the nature of the art, from lighting to scene-content.

Forum for feedback

The website also gives filmmakers a chance to receive honest feedback from their fans. “In Mumbai’s media you often tend to get film reviews that are biased, so this is especially important,” Mr. Karthik says.

Entries will be accepted at http://passionforcinema.com up until November 15; there is no entry fee for the festival.

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