FILM SOCIETY MOVEMENT IN TELANGANA and ANDHRAPRADESH ============================= To create a sizeable audience which would view realistic, artistic and meaningful cinema and to spread good cinema culture among the people were the principal objectives of the First film society. In addition to the above the film societies had another important activity of inspiring the Film makers to make films with aesthetic and artistic approach towards the society and its problems. In the last eight decades of the film society movement all over the world the societies has made their presence feel by the good film lovers and had a commendable impact on the films. The film societies were founded initially by the writers, artists, and documentary film makers. They were very much aware of the powerful strength of the cinema and its role in attaining the social and political change in the society. In later times the film societies took the responsibility of good cinema exhibition, production, distribution and authentic film criticism as their responsibility. They even dreamt of creating a parallel film distribution channel for the film society circuit. But similar to all other cultural movements it has had its limitations, but even with its limitations the film societies made their presence felt and proved their relevance in the present society. The demand for the good and meaning full cinema is more valued today. The first French Film Club was started in1924 then the London Film Society in 1925 and as contemporary to these societies many societies formed in different parts of the world The Proletariat Film and Photo League were started in Japan. In those days many organizers made documentary films and some emerged as good film critics With the influence of the film societies in different countries Amateur Film Society, the first in India, was inaugurated on 22 April 1937 in Bombay. Derrick Jefferson of Illustrated Weekly, Stanley Jepson, and art critic Vaun Laden and the Documentary film maker P.V.Pathi took initiative in the forming of the society. Afterwards in 1942 Bombay film society came into existence. Later in Calcutta, Legends like Satyajit Ray, Chidanand Dasgupta, Nimai Gosh founded Calcutta Film Society in 1947.This society had a great impact on the new cinema movement in allover India. From this society people like Ray, Nimai Ghosh, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Subrato Mitra , Chidanad Das Gupta has emerged. Inspired by Calcutta Film Society many other societies came into existence in Delhi, Agra, Bombay, Madras, and other cities. The first International Film Festival held in 1952 in Bombay had a great impact on Indian Cinema and its line of thought. The film societies functioning in different parts of the country thought of coordination and seven film societies’ representatives met in 1959 In Delhi in Sri Kripalani’s house. In this coordinating meeting the Federation of Film Societies of India has formed under the chairmanship of Great Film maker Satyajit Ray. Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Vice President till 1967. Vijaya Mulay, Usha Bhagat, I.K.Gujral took the important role in the federation. Federation of Film Societies of India has success fully entering into the Golden Jubilee next year With all the development in the Film Society movement allover the nation the movement has also had its impact in Andhra Pradesh. There were 70-80 film societies working in the state in 80’s. In 1963 the first Film Society has started in Hyderabad as Hyderabad Film Society then Cinema Circle, RR Labs Film Society came into active role. They served for a quite long time but after the formation of the Hyderabad Film Club in 1974 the FILM SOCIETY MOVEMENT in Andhra Pradesh has taken a successful turn and Hyfic has emerged as a pioneering society in state. It is a torch bearer for all other societies in the state. Mr.M.Phillip served as the secretary for at least a decade and organized many festivals. He was a Regional Council Member for the Federation of film societies of India and organized screening schedules for all the societies in the state. Later on Mr.Bh.S.S.Prakash Reddy took over as the secretary of the Hyderabad film club. Till then Hyfic took an upward movement with number of film festivals, programmes, seminars etc. Film maker Mr.B.Narsing Rao became the President and took lead for so many festivals. Hyfic conducting regular screenings and with a big event like MOVIE MELA it has stormed the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad with great films and viewers enthralled the auditoria. And to add another feather to its cap Hyfic started organizing HYDERABAD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS. Two editions conducted successfully in 2007 and 2008. At present Film maker K.N.T.Sasthry is the President of the club. Next to Hyderabad, Vijayawada Film Society (1973) stood for the good cinema movement in the State for a long time. Under the able leadership of late ISK Devarayalu the Vijayawada film society organized many film festivals in addition to its regular screenings. Chitra Samskara was the film journal published by society. Devarayalu served as RCM of FFSI for so many years. At present Mr.Krishna Kishore is leading the society. Another important film society in Andhra Pradesh is KARIMNAGAR FILM SOCIETY (KAFISO). It was started in 1978; the founders of the society were Central Sahitya Akademi award winning writer Naveen, Mr.R.Ramulu and others. It has acquired 16mm, 35mm projectors in 80’s. After the tenure of Naveen Mr. N.Srinivas took over the leadership of the society. In his period Kafiso organized Film Appreciation Courses, Children film festivals and acquire a piece of land to construct auditorium. Later many film enthusiasts like T.Rajamouli, Ram Chandra Reddy, Narayan Reddy, Venu, actively involved in the society affairs. Later under the leadership of Varala Anand Kafiso organized many film festivals and successfully constructed its own Auditorium i.e. ‘FILM BHAVAN’ of 200seats with all facilities like LCD projector etc. It has also conducted many children’s film festivals, rural film festivals. Rural children’s film festivals and founded film clubs in schools and colleges. Kafiso publishes UTTAMA CHITRA film monthly regularly. it has started conducting NATIONAL SHORT AND DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVALS. Two editions of the festival held successful in 2007 and 2008. Many filmmakers visited the society and support from District collectors like Sri C.Parthasarthi is appreciable. Another successful film society in Telangana region is Warangal Film Society. It was started in 1975, under the leadership of Dr.Srinivas Rao, Jeevan Kumar, Shyam Sunder and conducted many film screenings and festivals, this society covered members from Kakatiya University and many other reputed institutions. It was a successful film society in this area. Presently Warangal film society is being lead by Writer Naveen as President and Mr.Nagabhushanam as secretary. The first rural film society in Andhra Pradesh was started in 1981 at an ordinary pilgrim centre VEMULAWADA. The village was just having one single projector commercial theatre and the population of the village was just 10-15 thousands. But the idea of a film society to screen different language films and award winning films was received with enthusiasm and around 300 members were enrolled from teachers, employees, doctors and business people. Vemulawada film society came up with the inspiration of no other than Karimnagar film society. Vemulawada Film society was inaugurated by Mr.M.Phillip of Hyderabad Film Club. This society was initiated by Varala Anand as its founder secretary and N.Prabhakar was the president. The other active members were P.S.Ravindra, E.Kiran Kumar, Nalla Prabhakar, and Chandramouli. This society screened many films and conducted B.N.Reddy film festival, Chaplin film festival, children’s film festival and organized two district level conferences in which film makers like B.Narsing Rao, National award winning technicians like Vaikuntam, Sudhershan, poets like K.Shiva Reddy attended. Vemulawada film society was instrumental in forming film societies at Sircilla, Jagtial and Yellreddypet. Vemulawada film society served for five years. It published Chayanika Vemulawada Chitra Samachar a registered journal. Sirisilla Film Society was started in 1982 under the leadership of Late Rudra Ravi, Fasi, Muthyam Reddy and Saleem. Who were initially members of Vemulawada film society. Writers like Jukanti Jagannatham and others were the major supporters of the society. Sirisilla film society organized many film screenings and conducted film festivals and functions invited Film Actors and Film makers like Devadas Kanakala, Narsing Rao, and Somayajulu etc. It published Chaitanya Chitra lahari a registered news bulletin. Sircilla film society acquired its own 16mm projector for their screenings. This society served for four years in good cinema movement. Jagtial Film Society was founded by Mr.N.Laxmikantham and Rayancha Prabhakar in Jagtial town. Conducted many screenings and programmes. It served for three years. Yellareddypet film society was started in 1985 in a remote village near Sirsilla under the leadership of Mr. Ramana a school teacher. It worked for some time and screened many films. Huzurabad Film Society was started in Huzurabad town with the influence of Karimnagar film society and particularly by the initiation of N.Srinivas of Karimnagar. Huzurabad film society actively screened films under the leadership of Mr.Avunuri Sammaiah a journalist. It conducted many screenings and organized children’s film festivals. Godavarikhani film society was started under the leadership of T.Jagan Mohan Rao and Mr.A.Ramkishan. Godavarikhani, a coalmine area and industrially rich area. Members enthralled the society it was a big success for at least 6 years. it was having its own 16mm projector and film screenings were conducted in the officers club. Writers like Thummeti Raghotham Reddy and many journalists took active role in these society activities. They screened many films and hold discussions about films and their social and political approaches. It ran for a decade successfully. Later on film societies started in Peddapally and Metpally and served for some time. As there were 9 film societies working in Karimnagar District there was a good coordination among these societies and screenings were arranged as chain and scheduled in Karimnagar. Documentaries like Hungry autumn and P.T.Reddy and children’s films were planned to screen in all the societies. Vishakhapatnam film society was started in 1973/74 under the leadership of Prof.Venu Gopala Rao. It worked for good cinema cause and was in hibernation for some time but at present Vizag film society is organizing its screenings under the leadership of Mr. Prakash Rao. It also publishing regular bulletin Film societies worked in Bapatla (1975), Narasaraopeta (1978), Konasima Amalapuram Film Society, Nellore Film Society, Chaitrika in Machilipatnam, Cinemanobhiram inOngole were very active societies. Film societies worked successfully for some time in towns like Chiirala, Guntur, Gudivada, Kakinada, Bhimavaram, Rajamundry, Anakapally, and Kavali. Tirupathi film society under the leadership of Mr.U.S.R.Anjaneyulu and Yethirajulu is working hard to hold much different type of programmes for their members in addition to film screenings. Mr.Anjaneyulu is the RCM of FFSI and Tirupathi Film Society organized Annual Regional Meetings of FFSI Kurnool Film Society is serving under the leadership of Mr.Laxminarayan Reddy. It is organizing children’s film festivals etc. Film Society of Sthambadri serving good cinema movement in Khammam. It is organizing film screenings under the leadership Mr. Ravi Maruthi and others. Ravi served as RCM of FFSI for some time and is the secretary of AP Chapter and conducted meetings of the Chapter at Khammam. Kothagudem film society is organizing film screenings at the coalmine city in Khammam District under the able guidance and leadership of Dr.Narendra. Cine Circle at Chilamkur is functioning under the programming of R.K.Paul who also served as RCM of FFSI, Classical Film Society at Mahaboobnagar,Tenali Film Society at Tenali, Revathi at Nellore,Clasical at Kurnool, Shortcuts at Hyderabad, Film Snonymous at Hyderabad are presently active in the movement. After the shifting of the head quarters of FFSI (SOUTH) from Chennai to Hyderabad, the film society movement in Andhra Pradesh is expedited and many new societies are coming CAMPUS FILM CLUBS “Value education is one of the most important parts of education. Art can inculcate sensitivity and values in young minds. Cinema is modern art form, discovered by science, which can influence and reach the masses.” Good values of life are like a torch, which guides us through our journey of life. We need values to prevent our society from disintegrating into chaos. We need values to live meaningfully to interact with each other and find relationship, which we can maintain through the lives. The cinema is a powerful media in this world. In this world of information technology where reading had been declining considerably and students trusting only seeing through visuals to learn various subjects. Cinema can be a catalytic agent to change this mindset. The good films from the international cinema can enrich young minds with values to be cherished and to propagate film as an Art Form given by science. To conduct film related academic activities S.R.R.Govenment Degree and PG college, Karimnagar has started a maiden Campus film club in Andhra Pradesh. Under the leadership of the Principal Dr.K.Murali the club was named after the legendary film maker late SATYAJIT RAY. This club conducted many film screenings and film festivals. And the club has initiated to have a programme VIEW AND REVIEW under which the students are being asked to write reviews on the films they have seen. In addition to the film club SRR COLLEGE has started a CERTIFICATE Course in Film Making. The first batch has successfully competed the course and number of students could able to make their own short films as the project work. Some students joined in as assistants to the renowned film makers in Chennai etc.. After the successful start at the college FFSI has submitted a proposal to permit to start film clubs in colleges Sri C.Parthasarathi, IAS the Commissioner of Information and Public relations of the state. He was kind enough to pursue the matter and forwarded the proposal to the concerned Commissioner of Collegiate Education Sri Adhar Sinha,I.A.S. After considering the proposals the CCE has issued relevant orders to start CAMPUS FILM CLUBS in selected ten colleges as an experimental basis. He promised to extend the same programme to all the colleges after getting the feedback. With the orders given by the CCE FFSI under the leadership of its secretary Varala Aanand have toured around the state and started film clubs in 15 Government Degree Colleges, starting from Karimnagar, Warangal, Nizamabad, Kurnool, Kakinada, Vishakapatnam, Ongole, Vijayawada, Chittor, and Organsied campus Lectures in Osmania, Kakatiya, and Telangana Universities. Mr.Shyam Benengal former President of Federation of Film Societies of India personally wrote letters to the Vice-Chancellors of Kakatiya and Satavahana Universities to start and encourage Campus film clubs. After the success of this programme the Commissioner if Technical Education Dr.K.Laxminarayana,IAS responded immediately and written to all the Registrars of the JNTU Universities to support this activity and start CAMPUS FILM CLUBS in all the Engineering Colleges in the state. In turn the Registrars issued circulars to all the colleges. The first Engineering College to start the campus film club is AITAM (Aditya Institute of Technology and Management Sciences) in Tekkali of Srikakulam District and many engineering colleges are in pipeline. The Federation Of film societies of India is giving orientation and supplying films to the campus film clubs all over the state. FFSI is conducted Kakinada JNTU LEVEL Two day Film making Workshop in AITam Engineering college, Tekkali . Film makers C.Umamaheshwer rao, Relangi Narasimha rao, M.V.Raghu,Praveen Bandaru,KL.Prasad, Bh.S.S.Prakash Reddy and Varala aanand participated in the workshop. FFSI is compiling and writing a book on Films those are suggested for the campus film clubs and students. This Book will deal with the film synopsis, awards won, stills and with a critical note about the film. The response from the students and faculty is enthralling in almost all the colleges where Campus film clubs stared the screenings are regular, films of international repute and films on environment, science and many academic subjects are being shown to the students. The Principals of the respective colleges are encouraging the clubs and even they are supporting to conduct film festivals on environment, filmic adaptations etc..

FILM SOCIETIES - A OBSERVATION

In one of the Film society screenings a member says these films are available on net let us go out,
his friend follows silently and in another session of screenings a college student says that ‘its boring
I am unable to understand and appreciate the film let us go for canteen’ The day is not off when such situations become omnipresent
at all the film society screenings.
As staunch film society activists what skills we need to acquire to face this challenge?
What will be our changed role?
Will film clubs/societies are needed? Or will the tribes of film society activists face gradual extinction? Its rather worrying, isn’t it?
Primarily we need to be techno-savvy. In today’s digital environment ‘Film and screen’ have become antediluvian even in remote villages of India.
Audience is quite aware of the internet and downloading films online and even small towns are having access to the DVD parlors that are making available
of films of national and international repute.
We as film society activists shall continue to be material producers but with a difference.
Our programmes need to be changed and they should be prominently interactive.
Now the present generation of members is not just viewers as they were in 80’s or 90’s.
But they are exposed to the latest trends in the cinema and technology. The plethora of Indian and
foreign media invades their conscience and the internet is spreading unbelievable web of information around them.
In this wealth driven and consumerist society the material comfort and gadgets are easily available to the members
In this situation the members of film societies demand much more service from our film society activists and their programmes.
So the film society activities may not end simply with the screening of films and conducting film festivals at regular intervals,
they need to reach the members with a variety of access points like chatting, sms and by creating blogs instead of merely delivering
news letters or house journals etc.. We should master even the email language. so we have to make use of the available the technology.
Further the role of film society activist as a counselor acquires importance now. We should update our knowledge of cinema every time
and the information of film festivals and film trends must be on our finger tips and we should be ready to disseminate information at any point of time.
The film society activists should use the latest media technology and provide the critical points of film appreciation and the merits and demerits of a film.
Even the knowledge of styles of film making will also be useful to the members.
Reaching the young and student community must be the top most priority of the film societies today. The interests and likes of
present generation are quite different they need to have instant and nascent information with regard to anything on the earth.
They are the generation of mobiles and smses, mails and chats, so the film society activists should be able to tune ourselves
to reach them and get their nod for art and aesthetics of cinema.
So we need to go to campuses, but the task is not simple.
No doubt the present student tribe is trusting only seeing visuals to learn various subjects,
we have to make use of this phenomenon and percolate into the campuses. We can approach the college authorities and organize film screenings
and to add to this we have to plan for short term courses in film appreciation and film making for the students. We can also organize short
film festivals and competitions among the students and put them in the stream of good cinema.
Change in the working styles of film societies and its activists will only help them survive otherwise the society and the new generation will no sooner switch off the movement.

ViBGYOR Film Festival-2012: CALL for Entries

ViBGYOR Film Festival-2012: CALL for Entries Welcome to the 7th Edition of ViBGYOR International Film Festival for Short & Documentary films, to be held in Thrissur, Kerala, India from January 25-29, 2012! Renowned filmmaker Megnath Akhra is the Festival Director for 2012 VIBGYOR. You may submit documentary/short fiction/music video/animation/spot or experimental films that pertain to any `spectrum’ (see below) for PREVIEW. An eminent panel of Jury will select the final set of films for ViBYOR-2012. The last date for film submissions: NOVEMBER 15th, 2011 (postmarked). Film Spectrum ‘South Asia: Lives and Livelihoods’ is the special focus theme of ViBGYOR-2012. Apart from the Focus theme package, there are seven ViBGYOR theme packages, namely: 1) Identities 2) Rights 3) Gender & Sexualities 4) Fundamentalism & Diversity 5) Developmentalism 6) Nation State and 7) Culture & Media. There are three zonal divisions such as International/National/Kerala Spectrum. One may enter films under `Focus of the Year’ package, `ViBGYOR’ Theme package and `Kerala Spectrum’ package. (Only films made by filmmakers residing in Kerala will be considered under Kerala Spectrum, which showcases documentaries, short fiction and `Focus-Children’ films based on `Kerala’ themes) We wish to insist on Online Film Entries submission procedure, for which you may visit www.vibgyorfilm.org and also refer to Film Submission Guidelines and FAQ. For any difficulty/problem with online film entry procedure please send queries to info@vibgyorfilmfest.org or contact us at: 0-9447441621 There is an Entry Fee of INR.300 for National/Kerala Spectrum entries and $10 for entries from overseas. You may submit more than one film, but each entry should comply with all submission requirements. Please make sure that in the Online Film Entry form you provide with all mandatory information regarding each film entry and about yourself and also upload high resolution stills of your films and any other publicity material. For Festival screening, we accept DVCAM, MiniDV and DVD as Exhibition copies (if your film is selected). However Two DVD (PAL) copies should be submitted for Selection Preview purpose, without which we will not consider your entry. Send the film submission packets to: ViBGYOR, 2nd Floor Kalliath Square, Palace Road, Thrissur, 680 020, Kerala, Tel. 0487-2323590/9809477058. Please mention your Online Film Entry (registration) number on all discs, packets and in all further communications. All selected films will receive a Certificate of Participation. ViBGYOR is a non-competitive Film Festival; so there are no Awards. However we award filmmaking Fellowships to Three deserving young filmmakers whose films are entered under the National/ Kerala Spectrum sections. The filmmaker or a representative of all selected films is invited to attend the festival and assured of local hospitality. (ViBGYOR is not in a position to pay for travel expenses). Warmly, Seena Panoli (cell. 9447546417) President-ViBGYOR Film Collective Joseph Lazer (9447441621)Secretary-ViBGYOR Sarat Cheloor (9809477058) Programme Coordinator Benny Benedict (9447000830), National Coordinator

The 4th ‘Cut.In’ Students Film Festival

The 4th ‘Cut.In’ Students Film Festival will be held as a part of “Resonance“ at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai on the 21st and 22nd December 2011. http://cutinfest.wordpress.com/ The festival is being organized by the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies (CMCS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences. This year Cut.In is organized as a part of “Resonance” as the institute is celebrating its platinum jubilee. CMCS is an independent centre of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, engaged in media teaching, production, research and dissemination. Currently the Centre runs a two-year Masters degree in Media and Cultural Studies focusing on professional media practice and research within a framework that enables the development of a critical perspective on media, culture and society. It seeks to enable the creation of a lively group of thinking doers and doing thinkers. Entries are invited for the following categories: a) Documentary (under 45 min) b) Short fiction (under 45 min) c) Public Service Message (Under 2 min) The festival will feature works by graduate/postgraduate/diploma students all over the country and other interested international students selected by a panel of judges. Two prizes will be given in each category. The prize consists of a trophy and a citation. In addition there are prizes for Best Cinematography, Editing and Sound Design. For any queries please write to : cmcs.cutin@gmail.com Also for any other specific queries please contact: Shweta – 07709520655 Vikram – 09920147057 -- ---------------------------------------------------------- K.P. Jayasankar, Ph.D., Professor Centre for Media and Cultural Studies Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India Phone: +91 22 2552 5660(Work) Fax: +91 22 2552 5050 e-mail: kpj[AT]tiss[DOT]edu URLs: www.cmcs.tiss.edu

The 2nd Siliguri International Short & Documentary Film Festival

The 2nd Siliguri International Short & Documentary Film Festival is scheduled to be held on 12th and 13th November 2011 at Siliguri, the 2nd largest city of West Bengal, at the foothills of the Darjeeling-Himalayas in India only 582KM away from Kolkata, 86KM from Darjeeling and 114KM from Gangtok. Films of any genre from any country made in any format with English subtitles within the period 2009-2011 with a duration of NOT more than 30 minutes are eligible for the festival. There is NO entry fee. Entries (two copies of the DVD, an application in plain paper duly signed by the right-owner and publicity materials) should be sent to the festival authorities before the deadline positively. After the success of the 1st edition, this time there will be a competition section also for the films made by the directors from North-Bengal and North-Eastern Provinces of India. A three-members jury will be there to declare the awards. A preview committee constituted for the purpose will select the films for final screening in relevant sections like (a) National Panorama, (b) International Panorama and (c) Competition for NB & NE Regions. Deadline for receiving the entries at the the following address is 31st October 2011.

Premendra Mazumder
For Siliguri International Short & Documentary Film Festival

Please send your entries to:
Mr. Pradip Nag
Convener 12th Siliguri International Film Festival Committee
General Secretary Siliguri Cine Society
Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation
Nivedita Market, Hospital Road
Siliguri - 734001
West Bengal, India
Ph: 09434233833/ 09233424101/03532430856
mail: email:competition.siff@gmail.com , diptalukdar@gmail.com

TWO DAY FILM MAKING WORKSHOP

To inculcate and develop GOOD CINEMA CULTURE in students the Federation of Film Societies of India conducted a two day film making workshop to the engineering students of the JNTUK and the workshop was a great success.Thsi wrokshop being organised by the ffsi and the Srikakulam Film society a campus film club of Aditya Institute of Technology and Management. The club is the maiden club started in an engineering colleges.
The workshop was held on 6 & 7 of August 2011 at Tekkali, Srikakulam district a remote in Andhra Pradesh. Around 120 students from different engineering colleges like GMR, Kakinada, Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam etc..were shortlisted for the workshop said Varala Anand the secretary of the Federation of film societies of India.In the two day programme the students were exposed to many issues of film making and appreciation.
With this kind of workshops the new generation will be aware of the International cinema and the art and aesthetics of the Cinema art, they were taught basics of the film making and film appreciation he said.The inaugural function was chaired by the Director of the institute Sri Nageshwer rao.The popular film director of the Telugu cinema Mr.Relangi Narasimha rao participated as the chief guest in the inauguration of the workshop. He has explained his experience of making films.
One of the resource persons M.V.Raghu Cinematographer explained the intricacies of the photography and choice of colours etc.Mr.C.Uma Maheshwer rao explained about montage and the philosophy of film.Mr.Praveen Banadaru explained about the film narration to the students.Film writer K.L.Prasad narrated about the story and screeplay. Mr.Anand Varala dealt with the international cinema its history with PowerPoint presentation. The regional secretary Bh.S.S.Prakash reddy explained about the film society movement and the ffsi.
the student convener of the Srikakulam film society Mr.Santhosh Gudla was given an Appreciation certificate from the FFSI.

TWO DAY Film Making Workshop