Courtesy of Mumbai Academy of the Moving ImageA poster for the film “Stories We Tell†one of the films being screened at the Mumbai Film Festival.The 14th Mumbai Film Festival, organized by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image, opened last Thursday. The festival features more than 230 movies from around the world, screened over eight days, including documentaries, classic cinema, short films and silent movies. Other activities include seminars, a short-film competition for amateur filmmakers from Mumbai and panel discussions.
Courtesy of Mumbai Academy of the Moving ImageSrinivasan Narayanan.The festival's director, Srinivasan Narayanan, has been involved with international film festivals for more than three decades and has directed the Mumbai Film Festival since 2008. Over the years he has taken on multiple roles, from festival programmer-director and international film distributor to journalist, producer and administrator. In 2001 he started a film distribution company that exports Indian films overseas and brings foreign films to India.
He recently spoke to India Ink about the running the film festival, the state of cinema in India, the challenge posed by piracy and preserving film archives.
How has the Mu mbai film festival evolved since it started 14 years ago?
The festival has evolved into one of the most important film festivals in this part of the world with competition sections, very strong programming and the participation of international guests. We have grown in both size and power, and the focus of the festival is now to show the best from all over the world. We are an inclusive film festival and try to appeal to people's diverse tastes, whether they are serious minded, fun loving, enjoy commercial cinema or watch documentary films.
The festival is celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema by screening nine restored silent films, accompanied by a live orchestra. Could you tell us a little about that?
When we were thinking of how to celebrate the centenary of Indian cinema we thought we would pay tribute to the founding fathers of the Indian film industry by screening th eir movies the way they were screened originally. Also, we feel that the culture of film preservation and restoration is inadequate in India and that the festival should emphasize that part of film making, so we decided to highlight restored films.
There seems to be a big emphasis on film preservation. What are some of the challenges film archives face?
The biggest challenge is a lack of funds; archives all over the world are facing a financial crunch. It is a painstaking process going through films frame by frame and bringing them back to life but it must be done if we want to preserve these movies that are part of our history and culture. Also, there is apathy in some quarters. They don't understand the importance of film preservation. We have to make them understand.
Compared to the efforts of archives elsewhere in the world in preserving and restoring films, India is faring quite poorly. Archives in Poland and Yugoslavia are doing great work and the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation established by Martin Scorsese are going a pioneering job in restoring films. Attending the film festival in Bologna is like going on a pilgrimage, there is such an emphasis on film preservation and restoration. In India, Mr. P. K. Nair has been instrumental in working with the National Film Archive of India.
The festival features several screenings of regional films. Do you think Bollywood overshadows regional cinema in India? Is there an ongoing effort to bring more regional cinema to the fore?
I don't think regional cinema is overshadowed by Bollywood, rather Bollywood bravely embraces films from other languages that are either remade or dubbed and released in a much bigger scale. In India, Hindi films have a much wider market while Hindi becomes a mul ti-million-rupee project. The festival is putting a spotlight on regional films and providing a platform to promote them. About 17 regional films are going to be screened in our Indian section.
In spite of efforts in the industry to curb piracy, India has a flourishing market for pirated films. The festival is working with the former Anti-Terrorist Squad chief A.A. Khan to fight film piracy. What steps are you planning to take and what are you aiming to do?
The main thing is to prevent recording in theaters â€" otherwise film material is very well protected. That is why we have brought in A.A. Khan and associates to prevent piracy in the theaters by people who bring in their camcorders. Whenever you speak to agents about distribution in India their main concern is piracy â€" so it is a big issue. We want to create a culture that does not support piracy.
There is also a compe tition for young filmmakers in Mumbai to create and showcase short films about the city. How is the response?
The response has been tremendous, with over 180 films submitted from which we have selected 25, so the competition was tough. The idea is to ignite a spark in young filmmakers and give them a platform to get started. The person who won the competition at the first Mumbai Film Festival, Srinivas Sunderrajan, is now a well-known film maker.
How has the audience for cinema in India changed over the past few decades? Is the average cinema fan in India today much different from 20 years ago?
They are different in the sense that they now have a tremendous opportunity to watch films from all over the world because of video and television changing their understanding of cinema. While the audience has evolved there is still limited facilities available in India for the distri bution of art house films.
In America there are specific movie theaters for art house movies, and in Europe the government is putting in a lot of money into their promotion, but in India everything has to be done privately. Some people have invested in it, not made money and exited. There is an opportunity there, I think.
What are you are most excited about at the Mumbai Film Festival this year? Which films are you looking forward to watching this year?
I'm very happy with the selection of films we have, the academic activities, the participation of international personalities and the response from the public. We have about 6,000 delegates attending the festival and for every film every seat has been occupied. I've watched at least 210 of the films already and love each and every one.
Interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
