Sumptuous fare for film buffs at JDCA fest in Odisha capital

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 17:

The second day of the 9th JDCA National Film Festival on art and artists at the IDCOL Auditorium in the Odisha capital got underway with the screening of a documentary film ‘Vyasakavi’ revolving around the life and work of legendary Odia classical writer Fakir Mohan Senapati.

It was followed by Susan Sollin’s film on Shazia Sikander, the eminent Pakistani contemporary artist.

International award winning animation filmmaker Gitanjali Rao was present on the occasion of the screening of two of her films ‘Printed Rainbow’ and ‘Blue’. She also gave an illustrated talk with insights into the techniques involved in animation film making. She shared her journey from a concept to the completion of the film.  She said, “Animation filmmaking is more painstaking than live-action and feature films.” In a hall full of enthusiastic audiences, she discussed the inspiration behind the movies, her drift from animation world to the fiction world and also shared her future plans.

An interactive session called ‘Antaranga’ was held with eminent personalities like Padmashree awardee sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo, who engaged young audiences with many important insights, Similar sessions will continue on the third day as well with other eminent delegates.

National Award winning filmmakers Nandan Saxena and Kavita Behl conducted a workshop on digital filmmaking. The interactive session mainly dealt with the intricacies of photography and film making. It drove home the point that the camera does not do the job, it is the person using it who does. “Either you have to ride the horse of technology or you will end up carrying the horse on your back forever,” said Nandan Saxena.

Many young local filmmakers benefited from the workshop. The day ended with the screening of ‘On the Crest of the Horizon: Manoj Das’ by Prafulla Kumar Mohanty showcasing the life of the award winning author from Odisha.  The craftsmen continued to engage people in their stalls and the festive atmosphere continued through the day.

The third and final day of the festival, among others, will see rare films by MF Hussain, Tanabana, a film by Mallika Sarabhai and the closing film will be that of eminent filmmaker Gautam Ghose.

In the morning, the workshop on film making will continue by Nandan Saxena. The other highlight of the day will be the ‘Making of ‘Firaaq’, a film on Nandita Das’ directorial debut, followed by a talk on the Role of Art in Social Change and a talk by Ileana Citaristi with Susant Mani on Choreography in Film. The final day promises to be exciting and the JDCA team is expecting a good turnout.