Karnataka   

The Falcon, Little Time steal the show

— Photo: K Murali Kumar

Noted film editor Suresh Urs being felicitated by Directors Girish Kasaravalli, B. Suresh and Nagabharana, and N. Vidya Shankar, president, Sucharita Film Society, at the inauguration of the retrospective section of the second Bengaloory International Film Festival in Bangalore on Sunday.

BANGALORE: The third day of Biffes, the second international film festival at Bangalore, showcased films of international repertoire like The Falcon by Istvaan Gaal and Little Time by Andrazei Baranski among others.

On the occasion, renowned film editor Suresh Urs was felicitated for his outstanding work in the field of art cinema.

The felicitation ceremony marked the opening of the retrospective section on Suresh Urs, which will showcase films such as Mysore Mallige, Mann and Roja.

Mr. Urs was felicitated by Kannada film directors Girish Kasaravalli, T.S. Nagabharana and B. Suresh.

Speaking after the felicitation, Kasaravalli talked about his experience of having worked with Urs and said: “I have worked with him on one of my earlier films, which he salvaged on the editing table. His work has had a big role in the growth of new-wave Kannada cinema and in experimental cinema.”

“Biffes has a tradition of paying homage to technicians in its retrospective section, which is unique in itself,” said Vidyashankar N. of the Suchitra Film Society, which has organised the festival in association with the Government of Karnataka.

The festival also provided a forum for interaction with film directors whose movies are being screened during this eight-day festival. In an interaction with Italian Film Director Stefano Odoardi, Kannada film directors Ramdas Naidu and B.S. Lingadevaru, people got the opportunity to question them about their films and the state of local and international cinema in general.

The interaction also provided platform for a debate on film as a medium and the feasibility of low-budget films in the present milieu. “Cinema everywhere has suffered under the diktats of commercialisation, but one must make films that they believe in. All over the world, the problem is in finding distributors and a platform to show your work,” Mr. Odoardi said. His movie A White Ballad was screened on the second day of the festival.

Mr. Naidu spoke about urban reality and isolated lifestyle, which he has dealt with in his film Moggina Jade. “With exorbitant theatre rentals and little support from anywhere one finds it difficult to make meaningful cinema, but I am committed to making art films,” he said.

Mr. Lingadevaru, while taking questions on his film Kaala Beladingalu, which deals with rural youth and pressures faced by the media, spoke about his attempts to make cinema accessible to the public.

“Namma Oru Chitrotsava is a programme by which we will take art cinema to the masses. For a nominal amount, we will take these art films directly to the rural masses if invited. We follow the direct approach and rent theatres, thereby leaving the distributors out of it,” he said.

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