The emergence of technology has democratised film-making and lent greater freedom to the art when compared to what had existed earlier, noted writer and film maker Ruchir Joshi has said.
Participating in an ‘In Conversation’ session with film curator Shai Heredia at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) here on Sunday, Mr. Joshi recounted the struggles of independent filmmaking particularly during the pre-liberalisation era.
“Back then, we had to utilise 16mm films for which you had to obtain a stock permit with much difficulty from the National Film Development Corporation. We also had to procure the necessary film stock from Kodak and obtain the quarter-inch videotapes from the black market. The obstacles affected various aspects of filmmaking including the thought process, structure of the film, duration and scripting,” he said.
Pointing out that the film-makers were able to shoot much more freely with the advent of new technology, Mr. Joshi said that the process has become flexible. However, filmmakers have shown preference for quit edits of scenes. “This kheema form of editing is detrimental for the medium. Instead of using the ability of the video camera to stay longer and slower, many utilise them to shoot lot of content in short durations.”
Several positives
Nonetheless, he pointed out that cinema has evolved greatly with several positives. He also urged young film-makers to develop ideas from within their reality other than imitate others. The restored versions of Mr. Joshi’s films Tales from Planet Kolkata and Memories of Milk City have been selected for screening at the IFFK.
