Dolcy
D’Cruz
Cinema doesn’t just refer to the latest
release, and if you are a cinephile, you probably harbour a love of different
kinds of cinema, belonging to different eras and projecting varied subjects.
Thankfully, in Goa, various centres organise film screenings
and film festivals, offering film aficionados different options in different
languages and themes.
The
European Union Film Festival premieres in Goa on July 1, 2017 with a screening
of the Belgian film ‘Flying Home’. In its 22nd edition, the European Union Film
Festival features a bouquet of 22 latest and award winning European films from
22 countries, spanning over various genres, from
comedy to family drama, romance and adventure. The European Union Film
Festival, organised by the Delegation of the European Union,
Directorate of Film Festivals, and Entertainment Society of Goa, Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, Government of India in Goa will run till July 8,
2017.
Subodh
Kerkar is Curator and Director of the Museum of Goa, Pilerne which has a wide
range of programs throughout the week. They also regularly screen films and try
to bring in a more wholesome experience with discussions and question-and-answer
rounds about the films that are being screened. “We recently had a French Film
Festival in association with Alliance Française which included film
appreciation. It is important to have a venue for alternate cinema as it is
followed by a small number of audiences but a considerable number. We are
planning a two months program with Daulat Hawaldar to get films from his huge
collection which can be screened,” says Subodh, who plans to have 5-6 film
screenings in the two months.
The Dogears
Bookshop is Margao run by Leonard Fernandes also has film screenings but he is
still searching for a film curator to begin the club in full scale. They
recently had ‘Kashmir Before Our Eyes’, a two-day
programme of five films in June, and
earlier, they screened ‘Remembering Kurdi’, a film by Saumyananda Sahi. “We
have film screenings according to the themes. We recently teamed up with the
Portuguese Department of Chowgule College to have film screenings prior to their Portuguese
Day celebrations. We do get an audience to watch the films but it is more difficult to
have and manage a film club. The experience should not be only for the sake of
screening a run of the mill film. I was hoping to screen
Konkani films but you have to get the right permission from the people who made
the film,” says Leonard.
Sunaparanta
– Goa Centre for the Arts in Panjim has been constantly organising various film
festivals apart from their regular screenings
for the Sunaparanta Film Club since 2009. The films have been curated by Sachin
Chatte in the past and now Arvind Sivakumaran and Rounak Kamat lead the
screenings with a short introduction about the film. “The films for the Film
Club are selected by Arvind or Rounak. There is an audience for alternate
cinema or films with a difference. The number of members has also increased
over the years, and we get an average of 120 members per year. The screenings
take place every Wednesday at 6:30pm onwards at the
Sunaparanta Amphitheatre. The themes for the August screening are currently
being discussed,” says a member of the Sunaparanta team. Some of the film
festivals organised in 2017 include the French Film Festival,
Women’s Film Festival, French Film Festival
for Children, and recently the Killer Thriller Nights curated by Arvind which
showcased three dark thrillers from June 21 to 23, 2017.
The Centre for Portuguese Language and Culture,
Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts and Science, Margao organises a Portuguese
film screening every last Saturday of the month. The screenings take place at
the college auditorium at 5pm. Every film that is screened has English
subtitles which makes it easier for viewers who are not familiar with Portuguese
to enjoy the film. “Since 2008, we’ve been screen a Portuguese movie with
English subtitles in association with the Centro de Língua Portuguesa, Camões
Goa, Panjim. It is open to all. Usually, I am the one selecting the films
according to the likes of the audience or according to some special cultural or
historical event that is taking place in Portugal. The screenings are open to
all who are interested in the Portuguese language,” says Gilda Machado, Head of
the Portuguese Department of the Chowgule College. The next film is going to be
screened on July 29, 2017.
