FTII makes its presence felt again at Indian Panorama '08

The 39th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held in Goa from November 22 to December 2 will once again have FTII students making their presence felt loud and clear. The two diploma films Din Tak Dha and Three Of Us that have been selected for the Indian Panorama section of IFFI to be screened this year are distinguished by their cinematic, thematic and aesthetic excellence.

Shraddha Pasi director of Din Tak Dha struck gold with her maiden venture, "As a student for the past four years I attended the festival and now to see my film being screened here is very gratifying," says Pasi, whose film has also been selected for the Dubai International Film Festival. The story is essentially about the dying folk art- nautanki, told through the tale of a village troupe whose fight for existence gets a new lease of life as a young driver joins them. "As a theatre performer myself, we put in a lot of research and even went to UP to talk to nautanki artistes," she adds. Din Tak Dha was also screened at the 7th Third Eye Asian Film Festival held in Mumbai this month and has been shortlisted for the 6th Kalpanirjhar International Short Fiction Film Festival, scheduled from November 1 to 5 at Kolkata.

Three Of Us, directed by Umesh Kulkarni, is about severely crippled, 45-year-old Yogendra whose life is confined to a metal cot. His ageing parents are afraid of what would happen to him after they are gone. Together they play the game of existence in a single room where they live. A mix of fiction and documentary, the story is based on the Pune-based Thakar family who themselves have acted in the film. "The challenge about such a script is to give the characters the dignity they deserve. I did not want the audience to pity them or sympathise," says Kulkarni.

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