FTII Students Hold Alternate Film Fest in Panaji in Protest

FTII students organise a film festival to protest against the cancellation of Students’ Film Category in IFFI.

FTII students will hold an alternative film festival in Panaji, Goa, to protest the government’s decision to cancel the student’s film category at the International Film Festival of India. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@NewsWorldEnt)

Following the cancellation of the student’s film section at this year’s International Film Festival of India (IFFI), students of FTII organised a two-day long film festival, Retracing Freedom, in Goa on November 24 and 25.

The event is being held in a small hall at the Institute Piedade in Panaji. It opened with the screening of an FTII film Tatpaschat (2009), which was attended by filmmaker Saeed Mirza, who said he was here to show his solidarity with the students.

Their basic demand started from the demand of removal of the chairman. But they also went beyond that like intolerance, against hate. And who will not support them... Any rational human being will stand by them. I am here in support of the students’ protest. To show my solidarity that I am with them.

Saeed Akhtar Mirza, screewriter and director

Prateek Vats, an ex-FTII student, expressed surprise by the district magistrate’s decision of stationing around 25 police personnel outside the venue. “We don’t know why there’s so much police people. We are not here for any violence. We just want to screen the films which could not be screened at IFFI”, he said.

IFFI is a part of our syllabus at FTII. We should not be denied from attending the festival. Only a handful of students got in. The authorities did not approve the registration of many students. This is not right.

Prateek Vats, ex-FTII student

Vats also said they wanted to screen the films that they made by students on the 139-day FTII strike in Pune, but those movies did not get censor approval.

At least 22 student-made films will be screened during the festival in Goa.

(With inputs from PTI.)