Bangalore: What's behind the celluloid? Find out at October Jam

Though cinema is still quite a labour-intensive industry, rarely do we hear of anyone besides actors, directors or the lead singers. The tales of hundreds of others whose labour went into making the film remain untold. As 2013 marks 100 years of Indian cinema, maraa, a Bangalore-based media and arts collective, is bringing a host of film practitioners to the city as part of its annual creative arts festival, October Jam.

Film screenings, discussions and other cinema-related events are planned for all weekends of this month. Themed ‘Out Of Focus’, this festival will take a close look at the labour in the cinema industry, Ekta Mittal of Team maraa, said.

“With Out of Focus, we are trying to break down what happens behind the screen,” she added.

October Jam is the annual event to mark maraa’s monthly initiative called Theatre Jam. Free and open to anyone in search for conversation and collaboration, it is “a forum to trigger dialogues about art and media in the public spaces through practice, performance and expression.”

As part of it last week, Pritham K Chakravarthy, an independent playwright and director from Chennai, performed a monologue on the feminine in Tamil Cinema, which highlights gender roles and stereotypes in the film industry, and focuses on star suicides, specifically of female actors, at Vimochana office. A 16-minute film, Item Number by Oliver Hussain, was also screened. The film focuses on an actress just before she goes on stage for a performance. The screening was followed by a conversation between Pritham Chakravarthy and Kirtana Kumar.

There was also a workshop on film acting.

This Friday, at the Alternative Law Forum, there will be a conversation with a make-up artist and Litho poster printers. “On Saturday, Celluloid Man, a documentary film directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur exploring the life and work of archivist PK Nair, will be screened at the National Gallery of Modern Art,” Trupti Kanade of Team maraa said. They are also planning a wall painting session with two independent artists, Pallavi Chandar and Thara Thomas. The venue is most likely to be the Urvashi theatre, though it hasn’t yet been finalised.

On October 25, at Atta Galatta in Koramangala, there will be a discussion on poetry and cinema.

“There is an open call to people to discuss topics like cinema that stayed in their minds,” Kanade said.

The festival ends on October 27 with a film screening of The Human Factor, followed by a discussion. All the events are open to all and free.