Festivals spark an interest in ‘art’ films

City film festivals are leading the youth away from the mainstream Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters

MUMBAI: Mumbai has always been the Indian city of cinema, and even as people flocked to see Aamir Khan's latest offering, Taare Zaamen Pe, a quiet movement was gathering steam. The vanguards of this movement suddenly seem to be everywhere, and comprise people from all walks of life: doctors, engineers, senior citizens, students et al.

This motley crew has only one desire: art films, or in Hollywood-speak, 'International' films. "And this doesn't include the likes Hollywood offers," says Rounak Modha, a media professional.

If one is to go by the sheer mass of the discerning hordes foreign film festivals are attracting, a new audience is certainly emerging. The second day of last month's French Film Festival attracted more than 1,200 people; that too for just three shows at a venue that could accommodate no more than 390.

"There were people on the stairs trying to watch movies," says Mohamed Bendjebbon, attaché audio visuel at the Alliance Franceise. "The turnout was so great that we booked an extra screen for the final day," he added.

Anuja Ghosalkar, a film curator, and one of the organisers of the Tri Continental Film Festival, was stunned by the audience numbers for his film festival - which had a human rights theme.

"I never expected that people would come to watch this kind of cinema in such large numbers," says Ghosalkar, whose festival is riding the crest of success all the way from Mumbai to its next city, Bangalore.

TV journalist Suprita Mitter is getting impatient as she waits for March 6 to come around. The date signifies the start of the 10th International Film Festival, organised by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI).

"Last year, when I was in college, I cut class for a week, to watch four shows a day," Mitter said. "And my parents were willing conspirators," she added. "Not only did they come along, but such was the situation that we were at different shows in different places."

"When MAMI first started the film festival in 1997, there was an audience of 1,500 people, but last year the turnout was 5,000. This year we are expecting even more," says Sudhir Nandgaonkar, artistic director of MAMI.

"The audience for such cinema has definitely increased. In fact, the rights to 10 foreign films have been bought by Sunil Doshi's Alliance Media and Entertainment, and they will be released, this year, in cinemas," says Nandgaonkar.

Ghosalkar puts the new-found popularity of 'International' films down to the growing number of cinema appreciation courses, and the easy availability of these movies at film libraries and on the Internet.

"The multiplex phenomenon has also fuelled this trend," says Nandgaonkar.
 
Elroy Pinto, a foreign film enthusiast, often meets with friends to discuss the latest movies he has seen. "We distribute the movies we have seen, and one can often see us discussing the movie in a pub," he says.

Then there are also societies like the Enlighten Society that screen an array of films by internationally-acclaimed directors, ranging from Wong Kar Wai to Ingmar Bergman.

"For a yearly membership of Rs1,500, one gets to see these films in multiplexes, every Sunday," says Kunjesh Negandhi, director of programming for the Society. Enlighten boasts a membership of more than 12,000. For those who find film festivals a tad too expensive, the Internet is offering succour. "I have downloaded more than 50 foreign films over the last few months," says Modha.

So if you've had your fill of Bollywood and Hollywood, and are looking to broaden your cinematic horizons, now’s a great time to do so. The numbers may not be revolutionary, as yet, but an age of cinematic enlightenment may just be about to dawn on Mumbai.

b_lhendup@dnaindia.net