Students and film enthusiasts took part in a panel discussion on ‘decoding the conundrum of films and festivals,’ held on the sidelines of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) at Woodlands theatre on Thursday.
“Over the years, we have seen an increase in the number of students participating in the film festival. What we would like to see is a rise in interest among youth to discuss cinema and interact with people from the film fraternity,” said Shylaja Chetlur, one of the festival organisers and moderator of the discussion.
Ravi Kottarakara from the Film Federation of India said: “Festivals should be limited to places of film production so that more connoisseurs of cinema are able to convene and there is better experience sharing. Another aspect which has affected festivals is the availability of DVDs. They have taken world cinema to homes and there is less patronage for them on screens,” he said.
V. Srinivasan, Joint Secretary of Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation said the effect of watching a film in a theatre and having spirited discussions were the highlights of events like CIFF. Tanu Rai, Deputy Director, Indian Panorama section, Directorate of Film Festivals, said the archive of the directorate had over 2,000 films, which can be used to organise festivals on a larger scale.
