The
second day of the Film Bazaar 2018 carried forward the excitement of Day 1 with film pitches,
exciting panel discussions and informative sessions on the potential of filming
in different parts of the country.
The most interesting sessions of the day. had the acclaimed
filmmaker and music composer, Vishal Bhardwaj talk about his films, his love
for language and the many powerful female roles in his films in a session
titled ‘Badlands and the ‘Gender’. When asked about the powerful female roles
he’s written over the years he said, “I’ve seen that whenever a crisis comes,
women come to the forefront. Men look physically strong but women are
inherently stronger”.
The audience – largely filmmakers – latched on to every word of
his and enjoyed the bits from his films that were played in between. They
peppered him with questions on his approach to filmmaking and directing actors.
In response to one of these questions he said, “When I go to the set, I don’t
tell my actors too much. I don’t open my cards, I give them the space.
Sometimes they come up with really good ideas and when they don’t, I make
suggestions, but in the process they start thinking for the character and
caring for it”.
He also spoke about how blessed he felt to be a filmmaker
because it allowed him to live the lives of so many people as well as travel
the world while doing what he loves. When asked where all the violence in his
films comes from, he responded by saying that, ‘I feel like a gangster at heart’,
drawing much applause and laughter from the audience.
The day started with the 24 projects under the Film Bazaar
Recommends pitching their films to a roomful of eager industry participants.
‘Across the Ocean’, an interest project conceived online after
the two female filmmakers met on Facebook, was a one of its kind project that
had the two filmmakers making the two separate halves of the film in their home
territories without ever having met face to face. While there were films in
Malayalam, Bengali and Hindi as usual the slate also included three films from
the North-East and two from Chhattisgarh and Nepal each, clearly a sign of the
growing confidence of filmmakers from the hinterland.
The Knowledge Series continued to enthrall and enlighten the
audience with insightful views and opinions on matters of interest to the
filmmaking community.
The first session in the morning saw the team from Lakshadweep
present their territory as a destination for filming.
A panel of filmmakers from the North-East alongside Anshulika
Dubey (Co-Founder & COO, Wishberry) discussed the unexplored potential of
cinema coming from the region. The panel that included Pradip Kurbah, Napolean
RZ Thanga and Sange Dorjee discussed the challenges of raising financing for
their films.
All the three filmmakers are based in their home states and
stressed on the need to maintain their roots in the region to be able to share
stories from there.
Another insightful panel that saw a huge turnout was the one
that discussed the future of the OTT market. Moderated by Orly Ravid (Founder,
The Film Collaborative) the panel had Ajay Chacko (Co-founder & CEO, Arre),
Rasika Dugal (Actor), Rohan Sippy (Filmmaker) and Suri Gopalan (Founder, Vista
India Digital Media). Mr. Sippy was excited by the potential for filmmakers
that the online platforms offered. “The rules keep changing. People are playing
with the medium. It’s an unbelievably powerful way of showcasing content”.
Alongside
these sessions the Producers’ Workshop also continued with the young producers
getting a chance to interact with some of the most experienced professionals
from across the producing landscape.
