Dhenkanal: A string of cinema-related events titled ‘Filmi Chakkar-2’ has started from Monday here at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal. A two-day Film Appreciation Workshop is being curated and conducted by National Film Award-winning critic and film scholar Dr. Piyush Roy on 14th and 15th, which will be followed by a national seminar.
Speaking on this event, Roy said, “Indian Cinema is not just an industry that entertains people or influences public opinion, it is also the single biggest employer in the country. It employs more people than the Indian Railways. It sells more than two billion tickets every year. If cinema has so much influence on our society, then we need to develop a more informed perspective for it. This workshop aims to do exactly that.”
Regional Director of the Institute, Professor Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee said, “Cinema is an important tool of mass communication. It comprises many art forms like photography, writing, music, dance, acting etc. This makes film appreciation as complex as the art of film making itself. Like all fine art forms, cinema also needs a proper ‘understanding’ to appreciate its finer nuances. Film appreciation courses help one to understand the key dynamics of what film is made up of – art and technology.”
A monograph compiled under the supervision of Professor Mrinal Chatterjee by faculty members of the Institute Itishree Singh Rathaur and Soumya Ranjan Bihara was inaugurated at the event. The monograph is a specialized publication on entertainment journalism in Odia language. Apart from that, a book compiling Prof. Chatterjee’s columns ‘Patha Prantare’ was also launched. Besides, there were screenings of Indian and foreign feature and documentary films. During this event, the first feature-length documentary of Piyush Roy ‘Pleasures Prejudice Pride: An Indian Way of Filmmaking’ was also released.
‘Filmi Chakkar-2’ is the second edition of the much-acclaimed event ‘Filmi Chakkar’ held as part of the Institute’s Silver Jubilee celebration last year. On 16th January, a national seminar titled ‘Political Narratives in Indian Cinema’ will also be organized. The seminar will give a platform to the film researchers to present their papers. It will have four sessions on: ‘Changing Celluloid Images of the Indian Politician’, ‘Creativity Challenges to Capturing Conflict on Screen’, ‘Grassroots Democracy and Regional Cinema’. There will also be an exhibition of film magazines down the ages curated by Sri Surya Deo.
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