The month of May ’15 was a very significant month for Indian Cinema. Two Indian Films were selected for the Un Certain Regard Section at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival. The films were- Chauthi Koot by Gurvinder Singh and Masaan by Neeraj Ghaywan. At FMF, We have already published an extensive article on the films. The films were not able to get the top prize of Un Certain Regard Section. The award was given to Icelandic film “Hrutar” by Grímur Hákonarson. Masaan won two awards at the festival- Promizing Future Prize & the FIPRESCI Award.

I don’t consider this loss a failure at all. It’s an extraordinary feat for Indian Cinema. Indian Cinema in recent years has not been able to reach the levels that it once reached with stalwarts like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, etc. Chauthi Koot and Masaan have shown to the world that worthwhile films are still being made in India with decent budget and strong roots. While the mainstream industry is reaching new lows every Friday, some filmmakers still exist in India who makes worthwhile Cinema that visualizes our Culture and enriches it. FMF salutes those directors, those dreamers who against all odds makes great films and makes India proud.

It’s a shame that our mainstream media is ignorant about these filmmakers and their films. They are busy covering news about how well-dressed the Bollywood Celebrities were at the Cannes red carpet. It’s an irony that none of those celebrities had their films nominated for Competition sections at Cannes. They went there just to promote certain products or brands. No exposure was given to the two films that were actually nominated. This goes on to show how the media is obsessed with Bollywood Glamour and not a bit interested in true Cinema.

The Cannes festival has a section called “Marché du Film” which literally means Film Market. In this section, anyone can Screen their film by paying the screening fees of the market. Most of the Bollywood films that are advertised by media as Cannes Screened film are actually films that are screened in this section. This is not a significant accomplishment for a film. Marche Du Film is organized by Cannes for filmmakers from various countries advertise their films and meet international distributors.

Like every year an Indian Pavilion is setup at the Cannes Film Market. The Pavilion was organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) aided by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.  The aim of the pavilion is to promote Indian Cinema and encourage filmmakers from other countries to make films in locales of India. They also encourage co-production of films. They conduct various Interactive sessions and provide a platform for filmmakers to interact. Every year an Indian Film Guide is published where all details about the pavilion is present.

There is long way India has to cover to achieve a place at World Cinema platform. Contemporary filmmakers are taking firm steps towards it and steadily improving the Art of Cinema. The biggest disappointment is the absence of media support in this journey. The bright side is Internet & Social Media is giving a lot of support to Indie Filmmakers and will continue to do so.

For now, we are waiting for July 24, which is the date Masaan releases in India.

Dibakar Saha

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