Here's your chance to catch the award-winning Kannada film, Samskara, in a rare 35mm print. Experimenta, a film festival known for its innovative programming, is back with its latest edition, this week.
This film festival is known to have provided a platform for many filmmakers who are now big names in the international film scene. And the team says that they are India’s only film festival playing an integral role in showcasing uncompromising, fresh and compelling Indian moving image art. “Over the past few years, films shown at Experimenta have been the inspiration for the new generation of Indian filmmakers aspiring to experiment with both film and video and explore new technologies. Founded by filmmaker Shai Heredia in 2003, Experimenta was the first international festival for experimental film in India,” says festival programmer, Anuja Ghosalkar.
Experimenta started in Bombay in 2003 and has being held in Bangalore since 2006. “The response has been overwhelming over the past few years and it has built a community of followers, comprising filmmakers, curators, artists, students and cinephiles. A testimony to the vast community of people that Experimenta has built over the years was when we decided to raise funds using a crowd funding platform. Support came pouring in from all quarters, from all over the world and we were able to raise substantial funds to make the festival possible,” shares Ghosalkar.
This is the eighth edition of the festival and promises to be bigger and more innovative. “This year, we will be screening more than 50 films, a significant number of curators from various international festivals will present and many Indian filmmakers, whose films are showing in competition, will also be attending,” adds Anuja, while explaining what’s in store this year. “This year the inaugural film will be the award-winning Kannada film, Samskara, directed by Pattabhi Rama Reddy and based on a story by UR Ananthamurthy of the same name. Samskara heralded the Kannada avant garde/ new wave film movement. A rare 35mm print of this film will be screened, courtesy the Arsenal Institut for film and video — a film archive in Berlin at Badami House.
The Artist Profile section will showcase the radical works of some of the most historically important film and video artistes in the world. A programme of 16mm film poems made by one of Britain’s most important avant garde filmmakers, Margaret Tait has been curated by Benjamin Cook, director, LUX, London. Also part of this section is the work of the German artist Ludwig Schönherr. The Indian artistes focused on this year include Toronto based Indian artist Panchal Mansaram, who migrated to Canada and collaborated with Marshall Mcluhan for his films. And the closing film will be SYGYZY, a rarely-screened special film made by renowned visual artiste Akbar Padamsee,” Ghosalkar adds.
Also look forward to the contemporary International Competition section where 19 films which have been selected from over 400 submissions received from across the world, will be screened.
“The Indian films selected for this section include Black Pot Movement by Chaoba Thiyam, Nayi Kheti by Pallavi Paul, Blood Earth by Kush Badhwar, Pulse by Anuradha Chandra, Weapons of Mass Destruction by Payal Kapadia, Mount Song by Shambhavi Kaul, Way Home by Anirudh Menon and Chidiya Udh by Pranjal Dua,” ends Ghosalkar.
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