“The Owner” is a film about an ordinary backpack that by devices of script and twists of fate, travels to several continents, in search of an owner. Screened recently at the Alliance Francaise, the film starts out in Sao Paolo, from where the bag travels to New York, Paris, Dubai, India. The bag becomes a fashion statement, an artist's muse and the map to a treasure, the bag is the hero of this story but the real accomplishment is the making of the film.
An effort by CollabFeature, co-founded by Marty Shea and Ian Bonner, this film has to be recognised for transcending all barriers of practical logistics. It also gave 25 independent filmmakers the chance to put together a feature-length film and set a world record validated by Guinness.
All the filmmakers wrote and filmed a four-minute piece in their own country with their cast and crew. The film was then put together in a seamless yarn, online, where these directors met to brainstorm and develop their storyline based on feedback.
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“The Owner” is the first film of its kind and Indian filmmakers Prashant Sehgal and Neha Raheja Thakker who in their own space worked with short films and documentaries acknowledge CollabFeature as a bigger, more accessible platform.
“I had made a short film a while ago and sent it out to festivals, but it is a very frustrating process and also very expensive and laborious. So when I found out about this collaboration I was excited about being a part of a compilation of short films, which is what ‘The Owner' essentially is,” says Neha, who shot the segment of the film in Bombay.
While the film does give each director the chance to be a part of something different, it also is a space that each director had to share with 24 other creative minds.
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“This is a collaboration, so that is something you understand from the get go, but it was also one of the main reasons I did the film, I did not want to be just another short film out there.
“It's a very unselfish way of filmmaking, where you leave ego behind and work as a group with so much to share and learn,” says Neha.
Prashant Sehgal who shot the segment of the film in Delhi was involved in the production of the film before he got involved as director, “Everyone has different styles, but the script was already decided and colour was corrected in post production which makes it look unified.” Prashant also recognises the question of his film getting lost in between the other segments, “It is a significant issue, but then again it's a matter of give and take. The way I look at it, I have been a part of a film that has been screened around the world and has also earned a spot in the Guinness Book Of World Records.”