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Tuesday, Jan 08, 2008
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HIFF: need for more international films

Special Correspondent

Festivals with enough international content would be vital, says director-producer Teja

- PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Starspeak: Actor Rajasekhar, ‘Full Circle’ actor Michael Howe and Jeevitha during the 2nd Hyderabad International Film Festival in the city on Monday.

HYDERABAD: A dozen filmmakers on Monday opined that only by having more international entries in film festivals that our very own, including those aspiring to make tinsel town products, could learn to make better movies.

Day four of the Hyderabad International Film Festival (HIFF) saw the presence of actor Rajasekhar, his wife Jeevitha, three acclaimed directors and a couple of producers from the Telugu film industry and Thankar Bachan, the famed director and cinematographer,

Director-producer Teja said there were two types of filmmakers - those who simply copied or took more than a leaf from the original and those who could be termed ‘creators’.

For either of these categories, festivals with enough of international content would be vital and eye-opening, he said. Among those who participated in the interaction session were directors Kodandaramaiah, Dasarath V.N. Aditya.

As members of the Telugu Film Directors’ Association, the co-host of HIFF, they said more international films needed to be brought in subsequent editions of HIFF. The organisers, including the Hyderabad Film Club, had three more years to prove their organisation skills.

Of the documentaries, ‘Anamika – The Nameless’ in the competitive non-fiction category and directed by Rajesh Touchriver, made the audience think.

Bold depiction

An initiative of Prajwala, a city-based anti-trafficking organisation and Touchriver Pictures, the 26-minute English film is a bold depiction of the dehumanising trade and was shot in red-light areas, dance bars, nude dance programmes and massage parlours offering ‘specialised’ services.

Co-producer and director, Prajwala, Sunitha Krishnan expressed satisfaction at a crowded movie hall.

‘Anamika’, she said, was the voice of the voiceless, and an attempt to prevent at least one human being from undergoing this misery.

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