The first ever film market in the state promises to usher in new changes in terms of style and technology
Members of the organising team
Kochi is going to host its first ever film market, Indywood Film Market (IFM), as part of the All Lights India International Film Festival organised by All Lights Film Society and Film Employees Federation of Kerala. The organisers claim that the market, aimed at the film industry professionals, will not only help with the business aspects of the film industry, but also bring about a major transformation in terms of technological advances and filmmaking styles in India.
IFM, which is claimed to be South Asia’s biggest film market, will be held at Hotel Le Meridien, Kochi from November 16 to 18. “IFM will act as the business epicentre for sales and promotion of international cinema to Indian market and the sale of Indian films to international arena. It will integrate the different Indian film industries and film trade zones to make India a film tourism location. Some of the most popular film festivals and markets in the world take place in places where there is no strong indigenous film market. So as a country which produces perhaps the largest number of films in the world, that too in different languages, exploring the possibility of such markets is crucial for us,” says director Sohan Roy, the Founder Director of ALIIFF and IFM.
Festival director and FEFKA representative, director B. Unnikrishnan adds, “We have had other film markets in the country, like in Goa, but none in this scale and style. As you might expect, there will be a lot of stalls where exhibitions of international films, devices and services will take place. But as far as FEFKA is concerned, we are more interested in the industry forums, panel discussions and screening conferences that will take place. Some of the major players in the international film market like IMAX, CGS will be coming down for the market. I have always believed that when new technology comes into the market, filmmakers will also start thinking of themes that can utilise these technologies. When I launched Dolby sound, everyone was sceptical because we didn’t even have any films that use the technology. But now, once the technology became available, almost all films are making use of Dolby. This is how the market will benefit the industry and help it grow.”
A huge line-up of film trade analysts, critics, directors, film producers, distributors, actors and writers like Vijayendra Prasad, Komal Nahata, Rajeev Masand, Dananjayan, Rajesh Tadani, Viveck Vaswani, Karan Ahluwalia, Satheesh Kataria, Koushik Moitra, Mukesh Mehta, Prajeesh Kumar, Vijay Soni, Manju Bhora, Kan Lume, P.V. Sunil, Dewang Sampat, Marcin Michalski, Raaghav, Pankaj Kedia, Jeff Rector, Gabriele, Pierre, Hannah, Aashish, Rajat, Geethu Mohandas, Anjali Menon and Emily will also participate in the market.
“I’m a writer and director, so I’m not very interested in the financial aspect of it. But the very idea that it brings together different industries within our country, like the Kannada, Marathi, Bengali industries, under one roof is a very appealing idea. This will make the large international market more accessible for our film industries.
In a lot of instances technology is used for technology’s sake in our film in terms of animation and graphics. I think markets like these will aid in improving our understanding of when and where to use these technological tools and how best to use it. Besides, it’s an opportunity for the directors to showcase the films from India in front of an international platform to prove our capabilities and proudly declare ‘Mera Bharath Mahan’,” says Vijayendra Prasad, father of S.S. Rajamouli and the writer of films like Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijan.
IFM has also organised market screenings for filmmakers to showcase their films to a selected audience of sales agents, distributors, producers, festival programmers and directors. Indywood Film Business Awards (IFBA) being organised as part of the market will recognise the best traders in the industry. Intensive workshops on acting, crowd funding, documentary making, preservation and restoration of video content, quark express have also been organised on the festival days and will be led by experts in the respective fields.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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