Festival Note IFFB 2023

The effort in this edition, as has been before, is to showcase contemporary Indian Cinema - films that are primarily made outside the mainstream, in cities and small towns that are non-traditional filmmaking sites, those which in a broader sense represent the diversity of India, there is a persistent focus on debutant filmmakers and narratives that challenge the existing social order, issues of caste, gender, class, and ecology.

2021 was the birth centenary of Satyajit Ray, major retrospectives were mounted in the US and in the UK in 2021 and 2022, and in our country, many cultural organisations launched virtual and physical screenings subsequently. We have managed to gather some films of Ray which provide a glimpse of his work across the 1950s, 60s, and 70s till his valedictory film in 1991. The NFAI-led restored copy of Pratidwandi was screened at Cannes, IFFI Goa, and IFFK Trivandrum in 2022. However, these restored copies are not being made available to Film Societies, as the screening prices on offer make it untenable for us. The recent re-organisation of the Film Archives and other public bodies under NFDC need to consider the requirements of Film Societies, so they can carry on their work of Cinema Literacy. Without access to the distribution library of the Film Archives, it is difficult to access and screen Indian Classics for a wider public. We hope the Archives will re- evaluate its stance towards film societies.

The students' film competition drew entries from all major liberal arts institutions across the country. The winner's award in this category shall be named after our recently deceased Core Committee Member, Shri Suvendu Mohanty. Suvendu had been a pillar in the efforts at our festivals and film society screenings, and we hope to keep his enthusiasm alive.

The festival has also launched a competition for writing on cinema, and we hope it gathers momentum in the years to come, in encouraging, students to write on cinema.

The contemporary Malayalam Cinema section this year has been made possible with the assistance of Kerala Chalachitra Academy.

The festival is made possible by the efforts of volunteers and members of the film society who contribute their time and resources. We hope the festival will inspire new members to join the film society and encourage our audience to think and reflect about Cinema and its possibilities to have conversations.