The beginning of collaboration with FTII

The course, organised by Auroville Timelines together with the Auroville units Aurofilm, Cinema Paradiso and  AV Arts, was a first collaboration with the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), one of the prime institutes of India. Almost 100 people from 17 different states of India attended, including 10 from Auroville. Many of the visitors were bowled over by the serenity and diversity of Auroville.

It was an intense experience to be steeped in watching and analysing films from 1895 to present times for eight hours a day. Sudipto Acharyya, a senior alumnus of the FTII, led the course and divided it into five major aspects: Narrative, Time, Space, Sound and Colour. Each of these sections were dealt with in detail and each major genre was covered, starting from the Silent movies, Tableau format, Russian Montage, German Expressionism, Italian Neorealism, French New Wave, etc. The last two days were devoted to short films and documentaries.

As Richa, one of the organisers put it: “We discovered worlds beyond, traversed in between dreams and realities, met heroes and commoners from everywhere. We saw the material and spiritual pursuits of people across all nations, cultures, races and classes; and for once, we could see the essential oneness. Cinema showed us the secret heart of humanity”.

What made this course possible was that FTII launched SKIFT (Skilling India in Film and Television) in 2017 to “democratise film education and make it affordable and accessible in India”. The FTII has 16 different film education modules in topics such as screen acting, digital cinematography and smartphone film making, which are conducted across India in small towns as well as in megapolises. 

The director of the FTII, Mr Bhupendra Kaninthola, who came especially for the valedictory function on October 6th, was very enthusiastic about future collaborations with Auroville. The next workshop, a seven day hands-on basic film orientation course by veteran filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni, is planned for November 11-17, and in December a screen-writing course may happen.

It seems the time is now ripe for Auroville to take a leap and, in the words of Frederick, “through the media of films, make the invisible palimpsest of Auroville visible, for us and for the world to see.”