The India Film Project aims to provide a platform for aspiring filmmakers
Over the next couple of days, India Film Project will set the stage for film enthusiasts and amateur filmmakers. Veering away from traditional methods of filming, the event looks to encourage young talent to evolve with the times. “People assume that filmmaking is something to do with feature films. But the videos you create on YouTube, or even your Snapchat stories are an extension of filmmaking. And so, our workshops are aimed at letting people know that the web and content creation are merging,” says the founder of the project, Reetam Bhatnagar. “For instance, there is a workshop by the comedy collective All India Bakchod and Vasan Bala. On one hand, AIB is a group of web content creators, whereas Vasan Bala is a well-know director. They will be sharing an interesting confluence of ideas.”
India Film Project is an online and on-ground platform for filmmaking enthusiasts where they make a film over the weekend, and the best work gets awarded. Participants are required to make a film in 50 hours. “Filmmaking isn’t like photography, where you can just wake up one Sunday morning, visit a nearby lake and you’re sorted. This is why we chose the weekend for IFP. Participants are given time from Friday evening till Sunday evening to create their films and submit,” adds Ritam. The equipment doesn’t have to be fancy either. “With a simple mobile phone camera, you can create the masterpiece of your lifetime,” he points out.
Apart from conducting a competition, the two-day affair will also include workshops, panel discussions and exhibitions. Culture Machine, Comedy Factor and Screenpatti will be hosting a talk on creating viral content across all social platforms, and comedy collective East India Comedy will be in conversation with Raja Sen on ‘The importance of giving offence’. Bollywood Gandu (Twitter handle) and Anisha Rickshawali (YouTube character) will discuss with Raja the concept of Split Personality on and off line. “This workshop is about how Karan Talwar of Bollywood Gandu (handle on Twitter) and Anisha of Rickshawali (YouTube account) have completely different personalities on and off line,” informs Ritam.
One more important thing that the event will concentrate on is the ability to take rejection while striving to produce better content. “Rejection of content happens almost immediately. If people don’t like a video or a post, they simply down vote it. Even the most popular content creators aren’t spared. Through our workshops, we aim at creating content that not only has quality but also has the ability to go viral,” Ritam tells us.
The evening will see an award ceremony for the winners of the contest and the winning films will also be screened.
India Film Project will take place on October 1, 11 am onwards At Nesco, Goregaon (E) The event is free, but requires RSVP
