THE 12TH BENGALURU INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PROVED TO BE INFORMATIVE, EDUCATIVE AND BARRIER SHATTERING

Jyothi Venkatesh

Shri Suneel Puranik, Chairman, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy and Festival Director, 12th Bengaluru International Film Festival the festival is an exuberant season that India and international scene awaits eagerly year after year. “The film festival has always opened up a whole new world for the creative generation of filmmakers to look at the possibilities of film expression. The festival is a platform that always served as an exchange of perspectives and vibrant idea of contemporary society. It allows access to the world that might be otherwise out of bounds by presenting diverse landscapes across the world. Bengaluru, our very own city known for its plurality of culture, can assimilate global cultures and yet retain its own identity. This edition set out to showcase a wide array of films across the world with vivid themes and genres that were lined up for screening.

Shri N. Vidyashankar, Artistic Director of the 12^th Bengaluru International Film Festival said that Parasite, the South Korean film with almost no English language and a far Eastern family and social dynamics as its core theme winning the Oscar awards has made the world film scenario introspect. Winning the Best Film award and the Best Director award, Mr Bong Joon-Ho has created history and raised the question worldwide as to why a non English film did not win the best film award at the Oscar ceremony of the American Academy fo Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for  92 years. The cineastes who would rather wait for creative forays to be recognised at film festivals across the globe have known this aberration for a long time. But the fact remained that the cultural hegemony driven by commercial interests had prevailed on the exclusion of the best of the world cinema auteurship are cultural of the non English domain at the Academy and such other similar platforms. After all, artistic endeavors of independent auteurship are cultural and intellectual acts and are creative expressions of individuals to communicate with the discerning audiences and not for a market evaluation.

Shri Vidyashankar adds, “In the course of the year during which Mr Bong has received accolades from the entire spectrum of film scenario, from Cannes to Oscars, through Golden Globe and from cine-loving public to the discerning film critics, he has also talked about the nature of film medium itself. When he said the most personal is the most creative and the world has overcome the one inch tall barrier, meaning the sub titles, he was referring to the amazing films from diverse cultures and languages that dot the Global Cinema. Film festivals are the forums which continuously strive for crossing these barriers of language and artificial borders and bring together people of diverse lifestyles and thoughts.

“The 12th edition of the festival celebrated the cultural diversity through films from across the globe and reminisced the birth of cinema 125 years ago by revisiting some of the major classics of the history of Cinema. It also recognized the uniqueness of Indian Cinema which largely relies for its success on the musical interludes. The Indian musical tradition and cinema was the theme of the festival this year and brought into focus though selected films, the lives of pioneers of Indian classical music and also the evolution of film music in India. In addition, as usual, the kaleidoscope of Cinema of the world, Competitive sections, Country Foci, Director’s Retrospectives and all other programmes of earlier era also continued without fail. Thanks for being a part of the celebrations of the cultural diversity, lifestyles and intellect through the best of the cinemas of the world.”

To sum up, the12th edition of the Bengaluru International film festival proved to be informative, entertaining as well as barrier shattering and I enjoyed my one week of hospitality at the Hotel Ferns in Yeshwantpur as well a the interactions at various outlets all over Bengaluru organised by Shri Suneel Puranik, the Director and Shri Vidyashankar, the Artistic Director, which was made enjoyable by the tireless working of the volunteers at the hospitality desk including Shri Anand Kannan, the Hospitality Co-ordinator who looked after the transport and travel of all the invitees from various parts of the country as well as abroad.