Post Event Release - INDIA ALIVE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
Post Event Release
INDIA ALIVE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
A Short Film Festival where stories come to life
FILMBUG: A CHARITABLE INITIATIVE TO TEACH PURPOSEFUL FILM MAKING TO LESS FORTUNATE & MARGINALIZED CHILDREN ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO BRING ABOUT SOCIAL CHANGE AND AWARENESS.
Evening saw the presence of Kapil Mattoo, Jackie Shroff, Kunal Kohli, Shaan, Sanjay Mishra, Nandish Sandhu, Gaurav Goyal,Nikhila Varun, Pawan Panara, Rashmi Kucchal, Satish Kaushik Ranvijay Singh and many more.
Highlights-
1. About FilmBug Foundation & The Initiative:
Founder: Nameeta Premkumar
Co-Founder: Kapil Mattoo
2. Jury- Ms. Shabana Azmi, Ms. Smita Thackeray, Mr. Kabir Bedi, Mr. Satish Kaushik, Mr. Sudhir Mishra, Mr. Kunal Kolhi, Mr. Siddharth Anand (Bang Bang, War), Shaan, Mr. Ritesh Shah (Writer: Airlift, Kahani, Pink, Batla House etc).
3. 65 children came from all across India to watch their films with the jury at a magical evening
4. This year 11 short films were screened, made by children from Haryana, Shivpuri,Satara, Jaipur ,Patna ,Bhubaneshwar and Mumbai before an eminent jury at the Mukti Cultural Hub, Andheri West, Model Town, Andheri West.
FilmBug is a charitable initiative that was formed with the philosophy of giving back to children who lack opportunity. The idea is to teach professional film making “with a purpose” which is otherwise an expensive skill to Less Fortunate & Marginalised Children through Film making workshops across the country.
Nameeta Premkumar has had over 20 years of experience as a Producer and Director and has learnt film making in New York and India. She is on the Faculty of a few media schools and runs the company Imagik Media Pvt.Ltd which has made varied content across platforms from feature films, music, commercials and series.
Filmbug started with the idea of taking professional and good film making to less fortunate children who have fertile minds but no vent or avenue to be creative and express themselves.The idea was to train them and impart a skill that is lifelong and empower them to tell their stories through film
Kapil Mattoo has been a Producer and worked on feature films, events, series and with the company Imagik Media has produced content that has always pushed the envelope. Together they travel across imparting knowledge and skills to the less privileged.
Filmbug is designed to encourage children to think out of the box, to work in teams, to give vent to their emotions, to gain confidence, to empower them to tell their stories through film and to enjoy an immersive movie making experience.
The curriculum:
-The genesis of an idea
-From an idea to a story
-From a story to a screenplay –Writing in Final draft format
-Story boarding
-Technical: Camera angles,Shots ,Lenses , Axis , Lighting and sound for film
-Pre Production & Planning
-Shot breakdowns
-Shooting on location
-Making their own films
Film making workshops:
Over the last two years the FilmBug team has gone across 6 towns in phase one
And 5 towns in phase 2.
The result has been tremendous.
350 children came together to write, act and direct their own films.
PHASE 1 (2016-17)
Patna –Rat eating community children
Bhubaneshwar –Children from the rag picking community
Kangra –Orphaned and homeless girls
Mumbai-Street children
Kolhapur-Children working in brickyards
PHASE 2 (2018-2019)
Haryana- Girls Sexually abused and rescued from trafficking
Shivpuri – Children who are victims of child marriage
Satara- Children from Nomadic tribes
Jaipur – HIV positive children
Bengaluru- Slum and laborers children
Advanced workshop-Children from first phase (Bhubaneshwar,Patna , Mumbai)
ABOUT INDIA ALIVE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2017
The films needed a serious platform where they could be showcased and appreciated for their technical prowess and content.
The India Alive Short Film Festival is a platform that celebrates these films with eminent makers who are a part of viewing these films as a jury and encourage the skills of these children as filmmakers.
The films were showcased at a red carpet event at Cinepolis Mumbai on the 31st of May, 2017 to a thunderous applause from the audience and the children shared the stage with prolific filmmakers in Mumbai.
For the first time ever, these children were brought down from various cities to participate in this one of its kind Festival which is purely to encourage talent.
The jury comprised of eminent personalities from the fraternity who supported and applauded this initiative namely Prakash Jha, Kabir Bedi, Farah Khan, Satish Kaushik, Sudhir Mishra, Emraan Hashmi, Shanm, Jackie Shroff and Varun Dhawan were also present to interact and meet the children as it was their wish list and a dream come true to be with their stars.
The Festival Directors Nameeta Premkumar & Kapil Mattoo are very hopeful that this will kick start something big as the platform that is being created is a serious one and will open doors to these children which are unimaginable. True talent can be spotted, nurtured and taken to another level as these children are hardworking, realise the value of this opportunity and have great stories to tell. They just need the right support.
At the end of the 14-day workshop the children pick their own ideas to make a film. They write their screenplays in final draft format, act in them, and direct the films themselves.
About India Alive Short Film Festival 2017- The films needed a serious platform where they could be showcased and appreciated for their technical prowess and content. The India Alive Short Film Festival is a platform that celebrates these films with eminent makers who are a part of viewing these films as a jury and encourage the skills of these children as filmmakers.
FILMBUG TALENT POOL- Filmbug has created a talent pool with children from the first phase who have come together to make the curtain raiser of the festival. This is a film that was made after Filmbug conducted master classes and an advanced workshop with the children from the first phase who displayed exceptional skills in film making. Children were picked from Patna, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar who came together to make a film which was shot in Mumbai.
