Subcultures would be the engines of change, Alvin Toffler had declared in his groundbreaking book Future Shock. In India today, especially in the arts, the fringe is making his predictions come true.
In a corner of North East India, a 50-plus man lives his passion for peace and music with a Bob Dylan festival every June in Shillong. And in Puri, the town synonymous with a 'sea bhacation' to the Bangali bhadralok, the beach turns into a movie Woodstock every February.
The Bring Your Own Film Festival began in Puri last year when a small group of young filmmakers in Orissa decided to have an alternative platform for filmmakers, away from the big cities.
| |||||||||||
The first BYOFF saw about 100 films -- from one minute capsules to three hour-long full length features -- being screened on the picturesque Puri beach, and about 250 enthusiasts and filmmakers attending. This year, the festival organisers have managed corporate sponsorship.
"More than 100 filmmakers have confirmed participation," says the BYOFF team member.
The five-day festival starts on February 16.
Among the participants is Subhadro Chowdhury, whose debut film Prohor won the special jury award at the International Film Festival of India in 2003, and documentary filmmaker Pankaj Advani, who has contributed to the BYOFF fund.
"BYOFF is a very good effort, and needs all the help it can get," says Sammit Das, an ad and corporate filmmaker, whose short film, At the Midnight Hour, was screened at BYOFF last year. The movie, which Das made as the graduation project at the New York Film Institute, is a poignant story about how religious fundamentalism subliminally affects lives of desis abroad. The film was the first time Bombay Dreams lead man on Broadway, Manu Narayan, faced the camera.