NFDC Cinemas Of India To Stream Short Films From Carrot Films' Lockdown Film Festival
Carrot Films announced the Lockdown Film Festival, with the conviction that the time of lockdown was ideal to unlock the creativity of aspiring & emerging filmmakers
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oi-Lekhaka
By Lekhaka
In
an
effort
to
soften
the
impact
of
the
surge
in
Coronavirus
pandemic
in
the
country,
Carrot
Films
announced
the
Lockdown
Film
Festival,
with
the
conviction
that
the
time
of
lockdown
was
ideal
to
unlock
the
creativity
of
aspiring
&
emerging
filmmakers.
The
theme
of
the
film
festival
was
to
document
stories
of
common
people
dealing
with
the
pandemic
&
their
perspective
of
the
ongoing
situation.
The
Minister
for
Information
&
Broadcasting
Shri
Prakash
Javadekar
also
applauded
their
efforts
by
sending
them
a
note
of
appreciation,
for
organizing
a
film
festival
that
provides
a
platform
for
young
talent.
The
conclusion
of
the
festival
saw
overwhelming
entries
out
of
which
20
films
shortlisted
by
an
eminent
jury
consisting
of
film
industry
professionals-Sharmila
Tagore,
Ratna
Pathak
Shah,
Prahlad
Kakar,
Adil
Hussain,
Ken
Ghosh,
Nivedita
Basu,
Gautam
Rode,
Hiten
Tejwani,
Modhura
Palit,
Ida
Ali
and
Iqbal
Niyazi.
Filmmaker
Aparna
Sen
is
the
chairperson
of
the
Jury.
Veteran
filmmaker
Aparna
Sen
shared,
"I
was
extremely
delighted
at
the
innovativeness
of
the
films
submitted.
It
was
a
test
of
creativity
for
the
filmmakers
to
be
able
to
do
this
within
the
confines
of
their
homes
and
really,
I
had
a
hard
time
judging
the
entries."
Padma
Bhushan
awardee
and
two
times
National
award
winner
Sharmila
Tagore
sums
up
her
role
and
says,
"It's
been
a
positive
and
fun-filled
experience
during
the
lockdown.
The
thinking
&
execution
part
was
very
good.
I've
really
enjoyed
and
liked
all
the
films.
Well
done!"
Widely
acclaimed
black-comedy
Lipstick
Under
My
Burkha's
actress
Ratna
Pathak
Shah
said,
"I
enjoyed
these
films
very
much.
Imaginative,
interesting,
different
from
each
other,
and
not
letting
limitations
get
in
the
way.
They
were
a
very
reassuring
experience
for
me
-
proof
that
we
may
soon
make
good
films
regularly
rather
than
occasionally.
It
was
a
rather
daunting
job
though,
as
comparisons
became
inevitable.
We
had
lively
discussions
in
the
jury
and
most
of
us
wished
we
could
have
included
more
films."
With
a
view
to
making
available
the
selected
short
films
from
the
Lockdown
Film
Festival,
Carrot
Films
is
delighted
that
National
Film
Development
Corporation
will
enable
streaming
of
the
winning
films
from
the
film
festival
on
www.cinemasofindia.com,
which
is
NFDC's
homegrown
OTT
platform.
National
Film
Development
Corporation
(NFDC)
India
leveraged
its
diverse
cinematic
portfolio
and
the
advent
of
digital
distribution,
to
create
its
own
OTT
(over-the-top)
platform
www.cinemasofindia.com
in
2012.
Cinemas
of
India
stream
the
corporation's
classic
titles.
With
the
greatest
number
of
award-winning,
critically
acclaimed
films
on
OTT,
-
the
platform
is
representative
of
Indian
independent
cinema,
and
independent
filmmakers
that
NFDC
through
its
many
endeavours
continue
to
mentor,
support
and
uphold.
Besides
global
players,
Cinemas
of
India
is
a
platform
with
home-grown
content.
It
lets
you
watch
all
NFDC's
indie
films
&
acquired
content,
much
of
which
isn't
available
anywhere
else.
It
offers
a
decent
mix
of
shorts,
documentaries
and
features.
Available
on
Premium
subscription
of
Rs
149
for
a
month
&
Rs
599
for
a
year
for
all
content
(SVoD)
or
title
can
be
rented
for
Rs
60
each
for
72
hours
(TVoD).
Cinemas
of
India
has
not
only
emerged
to
be
another
platform
to
consume
content
but
has
also
raised
the
bar
to
provide
a
platform
for
independent
filmmakers.
Smt
TCA
Kalyani,
Joint
Secretary
Films
(Ministry
of
I&B)
&
Managing
Director
NFDC
India,
also
shared
her
views
on
the
collaboration.
"These
films
reaffirmed
that
'creativity
cannot
be
locked
down'
no
matter
what.
There
is
so
much
untapped
talent
in
India
alone
and
by
giving
these
films
a
platform
we
want
to
recognize
their
value.
Each
day
I
focus
on
new
ways
to
operate
and
expand
my
own
role
to
fit
in
new
filmmakers
and
the
Independent
content
creator's
priorities.
These
are
times
for
innovative
opportunities
and
we
have
to
look
for
ways
to
grow
the
industry
and
become
more
efficient," she
said.
In
line
with
the
mandate
of
the
organization,
NFDC's
OTT
is
now
a
streaming
partner
for
The
Lockdown
Film
Festival's
selection
of
20
short
films
that
have
won
the
jury's
approval.
Swarnendu
Bose,
Festival
Director,
Lockdown
Film
Festival,
Carrot
Films-
shared
the
thought
behind
organizing
the
Lockdown
Film
Festival
and
said,
"The
idea
behind
the
Lockdown
Film
Festival
was
simple,
to
activate
the
creative
note
among
people
in
this
pandemic.
Lockdown
was
becoming
stressful
and
boring
for
people
out
there.
Even
for
us.
That's
when
we
thought
of
starting
this
one
of
a
kind
film
festival.
However,
we
didn't
think
it
would
take
such
a
big
shape
as
it
did
and
we
were
overwhelmed
with
responses.
This
festival
was
made
a
success
by
people
who
joined
forces
to
promote
the
art
of
storytelling.
The
biggest
giveaway
for
me
is
how
families
came
together
to
tell
a
story,
so
impactfully.
I
thank
each
and
every
member
of
this
big
family
who
came
together
to
make
this
festival
what
it
is.
More
so,
I
am
extremely
thankful
to
NFDC
for
collaborating
with
us
for
streaming
the
shortlisted
films
on
their
OTT
platform
Cinemasofindia.com.
I
am
sure
this
will
be
a
great
platform
for
all
the
filmmakers."
Carrot
Films
also
collaborated
with
eminent
members
of
the
film
industry
such
as
R
Balki,
Piyush
Pandey,
Parambrata
Chatterjee,
Kubbra
Sait,
Sona
Mahapatra,
Sawan
Dutta,
RJ
Archana,
Indraneil
Sengupta,
Anubhav
Singh
Bassi,
RJ
Khurrafati
Nitin,
Sushma
Seth
and
Karan
Singh
Magic
for
preparing
motivational
video
messages
to
encourage
participants
in
these
challenging
times.
20
new
microfilms,
with
a
duration
of
around
three
minutes
each,
from
the
Lockdown
Film
Festival,
will
be
available
for
viewing
on
www.cinemasofindia.com
from
this
month
(4
July
2020)
onwards
for
free.