In Kolkata, a film festival that is ‘by the people and for the people’

Kolkata People's Film Festival showcases political documentaries and short fiction from South Asia, emphasizing curatorial freedom and audience interaction.

A film festival in Kolkata that has gained prominence over the years, focusing mainly on political documentaries and short fiction, will begin on March 20 and go on for four days, with screenings including works from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.

Calling itself ‘people’s cinema with people’s support’, with no funding sought from government or business houses or any NGO, the Kolkata People’s Film Festival, organised by People’s Film Collective, takes pride in the fact that this non-dependence of institutions gives it curatorial freedom, screening films unlikely to find space in OTT or cinema halls because of the subject.

The festival began in 2014 and is usually held in January. Only this year it had to be postponed to March due to logistical reasons; the venue remains the same, Uttam Manch in Hazra, and the timing 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day.

“Although Kolkata has a history of films festivals, the credit for which largely goes to the Film Society Movement of the 1950s and 60s, there was a severe lacuna in that whole exercise. The focus on political documentary films from contemporary India and south Asia was completely missing. Since the 1970s there have been Indian documentaries — increasingly important and relevant — not only speaking the truth but also excelling cinematically, in form and content and experimentation. But this genre was missing from the parallel cinema movement. So, we decided to create a festival whose focus would be political documentaries,” documentary filmmaker Kasturi Basu, a founding member of People’s Film Collective, told The Hindu.

“Eventually we also went on to include short fiction — different from the kind of fiction covered in regular film festivals — made by independent filmmakers on subjects that broadcasters and distributors don’t want people to see or hear about, films that won’t be hosted on OTT or get a cinema hall release, but at the same time are very important for people to watch and discuss,” Ms. Basu said.

According to her, the public response to the Kolkata People’s Film Festival has shot up over the years, from 50 people in 2014 to houseful shows at a 600-seater hall at present, each show ending with a conversation between the filmmaker and the audience. “In regular festivals, you watch a film and walk away. The audience and the filmmaker don’t get to interact in a democratic way; that space is completely missing,” she said.

Among documentaries from south Asia, this year’s screenings will include Gas Stations or The Pigeons of Lahore (directed by Thomas Sideris) from Pakistan; and The Professor (directed by Sandip Kumar Mistry) from Bangladesh. From India, there will be 12 long and nine short documentaries, and 11 new fiction (two long and nine short).