Boy’s rides Golden Elephant
As they say, films are mirror of the society. A film reflects the reality of the society. But presenting a film requires a very sensitive mind and a mature brain, but a group of students from Kolkata have proved it all when they are up on the stage to received the best film award beating 200 entries from eight countries at an international children’s film fest recently.
Hue Am I? won the Golden Elephant trophy for the best film in the Little Directors category at the 19th Golden Elephant, International Children’s Film Festival, India, 2015. Hue Am I, produced by Last Minute Production House, shows the effeminate side of men while trying to break stereotypes such as men shouldn’t cry or men can’t be 1D fans or pout or dance like a girl.
Apart from Arya and Shreevar, the group had Vaibhav Dubey, Ravjit Singh and Atif Dagman. They shot the film in the school’s The Round Chapel, classrooms and at the home of one of the boys.
The 13-minute film by five students of La Martiniere for Boys was screened four times in seven days of the festival. The final screening was on November 20 after the winners had been declared.
“When we left for the festival we knew we would miss a test, but not that we would win an award,” said Shreevar Chhotaria who missed his commerce and literature test.Three of the five Class XII boys attended the festival at the expense of missing a test but gaining a lot – from being treated as “royalties” to their film making an entry into the school archives.
The Students of La Martiniere School for Boys kept the city flag flying high at the Indian International Children’s Film Festival, Hyderabad. Not just one, three of their films were screened during the recently concluded film fest, better known for its Golden Elephant Award. Not only that they won the Golden Elephant Award too bringing pride to the school and the city.
As no other school from the eastern parts of the country could make it to the prestigious event this time.The films made it to the final list in the short films category after competing with thousands of entries. While two films revolved around environment, the third was a 12-minute thriller. Interestingly, ‘Our Bit’, a film made by Class IX student Shambhuk Biswas, was awarded with a special jury mention.
In the film, three stories have been woven into one – boys habitually forgetting to switch off fans and lights, throwing tiffin into the dustbin and keeping the tap of the water cooler on. The central theme of the film tried to show how simple steps can help conserve a lot of energy and how our carelessness is harming the environment.
The other two films that were screened are ‘Silent Footsteps’ – made by Class X students Arya Ganguli, Rahul Ghosh and Atif Ali Dagnan – and Class VIII student Arnab Chatterjee’s ‘The Silent Killer’. While the first film talks about how a shy boy overcomes his fear of interacting with peers after befriending a tree, the latter is about two contract killers targeting a person who doesn’t exist. All three films have been shot on small camcorders on extremely low budget.
“Film-making is a relatively new co-curricular activity that we have taken on in our school. It encourages children to be creative and communicative at the same time. We are extremely proud that our students made their presence felt at the prestigious children’s film festival,” said AbjaAdhikari, a teacher of the school who co-ordinates this activity.
Enthused by the success, the school had organized an inter-school film festival over the weekend. A large number of schools like Calcutta Girls High School, Loreto House, DPS New Town and La Martiniere for Girls participated in the festival.
In the inter-school festival, children experimented with interesting themes like windows being much more to life than just an opening on the wall, women and equality and friendship between two unequal.
Shravan Kumar, the festival director, had introduced the Little Directors category for students between 6 and 16 at the last edition of the biennial fest.”This category helps bust myths like filmmaking is the preserve of children belonging to the elite class, some of the productions are by students with very humble backgrounds.” Kumar said.
John Rafi, principal of La Martiniere for Boys, termed the boys “talented”. “Their achievement makes us proud… it’s not about academics alone… they are passionate about whatever they do.”
The boys had made the film in August 2014 for the first inter-school short-film festival, Phoenix, at La Martiniere for Boys. Acclaimed Film editor Arghyakamal Mitra had suggested a topic, “Who looks after her?”, to the boys at a workshop before the festival.
In a week, the boys shot the film with a Canon XA 10 using a tripod stand, a mike, a couple of headphones and flashlights – all school property.
Students are extremely tech-savvy these days… they can pick up any kind of technology. Why not then create a medium where they can express themselves?
Now the boys, as they are called “trendsetters” in school, have a fan following among juniors who are picking up editing and filmmaking tips from them.
Making a film and infusing some thing positive and thinking on some sensitive subject proves that today’s youths are more progressive. They can achieve any height by mere will power, passion and determination and these boys stands to prove that.
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