Part of the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Creative Minds of Tomorrow (CMOT) has emerged as a leading platform for discovering and nurturing India’s most promising young filmmakers. This year marked a significant milestone, with the program expanding to include 100 young talents across 13 filmmaking disciplines. The initiative garnered an overwhelming response, receiving nearly 1,070 entries from across India, showcasing their talents in 13 film-related trades. These young talents were mentored by the previous year’s CMOT alumni who were invited as CMOT Champions - Chidananda Naik, Subarna Dash, Akshita Vohra, Krishna Dusane and Akhil Lotlikar, a Goan filmmaker. Telaulim, Navelim-based Akhil Lotlikar is an engineer graduate from Goa Engineering College, who completed a diploma in film direction from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He directed and led the team that created ‘Odh’, last year’s winning film.
Speaking about his journey from participant to mentor, Akhil says, “The journey has been very fulfilling and empowering because CMOT was the first platform which gave me recognition as a filmmaker, especially on the international stage for a Goan filmmaker. As a mentor, I was able to share my experiences with the new batch on how to deal with problems that they might face during the challenge. It instils more confidence in me and my craft because since last year's edition, it has opened up a lot of doors for me to get more projects and work on many more films. The focus on the participants this year, especially for the 48-hour filmmaking challenge, the thing is that you are restricted with time. The major thing is to execute your work smartly. Once you have a script, your team ready, you've done all the pre-production, the strength of your entire film or the entire execution of the production lies in the amount of preparation that you do before you go to shoot. being very crystal clear on what has to be executed is the main focus and for that, there involves a lot of thinking which happens before the actual shoot on the idea level, on the execution level, on the planning level,” explains Ahkil. There were five mentors and they were made to interact with everybody and provide any guidance that the participants needed.
He adds, “Meeting all those people gives you a very wide perspective on the type of talent that is being pulled in. You feel like you're part of a community which has your back to support your needs, especially as a creative individual because sometimes the best creativity comes out when you have someone having your back. That is a key advantage for this year's edition and that they are making that network even stronger. That is very helpful for emerging filmmakers.”
About this year's winning works, the filmmakers are getting more experimental in the form. Experimentation is being celebrated which is a very good sign that the craft and the creative community is moving forward. “There was a lot of experimentations in the form, the type of films that they did, the way they encountered the topic, the way they treated the topic that was given to them. It felt like the treatment was part of how it deserved to be. That is one of the key things which is necessary for making better films each year,” says Ahkil, who started a production house, Ferryboat Films, where they make television commercials, music videos and narrative films.
How important it is for CMOT to encourage young filmmakers? “CMOT was one of the first platforms to give me recognition for a filmmaker. CMOT as an initiative helps you, gives you that platform where you can stand and speak and be confident in what you say and the work that you put out as a filmmaker. It is very important for aspiring, young filmmakers, who want to get into the industry because for me, that was the process,” he says.
The topic for this year's filmmaking challenge was relationship with technology and the winning work, ‘Gullu’, was a film where it turned the idea around and celebrated the relationship with technology where it showed how we don't really need technology to express emotions to each other. Nowadays, it's been phones and internet everywhere, so one is always connected. Akhil adds, “The film very cleverly portrayed how not having a smart device on you can be such an important factor in making more meaningful human connections. The topic was treated felt like a very fresh take on the idea. There was a very wide range of ideas and the way the ideas was treated into converting them into films was the main unique aspect for me because filmmaking showed the individuality of the filmmaker.”
Speaking about the growth of the competition over the years, Akhil says, “It's good to see that there is a constant growth and they are actively making sure there are improvements in the program getting better each year. From the previous year's edition to this year, they're getting more facilities and infrastructure to make sure their ideas are executed. It is very motivating for the creative community because more people are able to take those opportunities for their benefit.”
Akhil has made a few films which are already in the pipeline for upcoming festivals. There are a few projects which he is working on in his production house which is based in Mumbai and Goa and he undertakes a lot of filmmaking projects through that. “I'm also currently shooting and working on a documentary which will be done in the next few months. I've made short films including a Konkani film, ‘Roto’ and a Marathi film called ‘Sure Shot’. The Konkani film was shot in Goa and the Marathi film was shot in Mumbai,” concludes Akhil.