A story in a nutshell, told through the visual medium within the time frame of 30-minutes — these are the kind of films that the 8th edition of Bengaluru International Short Film Festival will showcase this year. About 200 films from 18 countries will be screened at the four-day event that begins on August 16.
From the selection of films that will be screened, 49 fall under the competition section with categories that include International, Indian and Kannada short films. Talking about the criteria behind selecting the films to be screened and those included in the competitive categories, Anand Varadaraj, festival director, says, “Apart from the duration (under 30 minutes), we were looking at the script, how well the story has been narrated, how global the thought is and technical aspects of cinematography, editing and sound.” A few popular titles are Blessed Days, Dad, Fugazi, Hoissuru, Tableau Vivant (international category), Gadho, Mayat, Midnight Vigil, Sandhya, Seher (Indian) and Vinashi, Distant, Emplacement, Gold Save Us
and Utthara (Kannada).
Stories from afar
One of the highlights of the festival is the short film packages from four different countries. These packages feature films that are unique because they showcase the storytelling of their respective countries. Tales of Persia brings hilarious and heart-warming short films from Iran. The Goethe Institut will showcase Short Export - Made in Germany films, Pocket Films from India offers Women In Film — a special package and Singapore’s short film platform Vidsee presents the South East Asia package.
Across borders
“The common thread in all the films is that these are the personal jour neys of filmmakers. Audiences will realise that everywhere across the globe, human relationships and emotions are the same,” says Anand. There will also be a panel discussion on web series and new age film making, and a workshop on cinematography and sound design will be hosted for aspiring filmmakers and enthusiasts. “Another highlight is the talk by Carter Pilcher (founder of Britain’s Shorts International), who will be speaking on the kind of cinema that works on the global platform,” he shares.
The primary motives of the festival are to offer a common platform for short filmmakers and aspiring film professionals to watch the best hand-picked films, network with other professionals and for film buffs to understand the nuances of filmmaking.
Rs 400 upwards. August 16-19. At Suchitra Academy, Banashankari, Cobalt BLR, Church Street and Max Mueller Bhavan, Indira Nagar
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