Annual festival of films on art and artists on the anvil

By Shyamhari Chakra
The heritage city of Bhubaneswar would host the 13th edition of the annual Film Festival on Art & Artists on February 8 and 9 at IDCOL auditorium. The unique event, the only of its kind in India, is being presented by the city-based Jatin Das Centre of Art (JDCA).
JDCA has been set up by New Delhi based famed painter Jatin Das with support from his filmmaker brother Biren Das, actress-activist daughter Nandita Das and architect son Siddhartha Das. “Hailing from Odisha, my father preferred to set up his art centre and museum in Odisha. Being an artist himself, it has been his ambitious venture to do something for his home-state. Apart from the museum and the annual film festival that celebrates art and artists, JCDA has been presenting a monthly meet-the-artist programme in Bhubaneswar since 18 years,” shared son Siddharta Das, vice chairperson of JDCA.
The two-day festival would feature films from 15 countries – Australia, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Myanmar, Norway, United Kingdom and USA) apart from host India – on visual art, performing arts, design, architecture and various aspects of culture. The screening includes fictional films, documentaries and animation as well, explained the hosts.
Gurrumul, an Australian film made by Paul Damien Williams would have the honour of being the opening film of the festival. “This award-winning film is an emotive portrait of one of Australian’s most important musicians – indigenous artiste Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. Blind from birth, he found purpose and meaning through songs and music inspired by his community”, it was learnt.
Similarly, “Raghu Rai: An Unframed Portrait” made by the celebrated photographer’s daughter Avani Rai has been chosen as the closing film. “A personal insight into one of the world’s most celebrated photographers, the film becomes a portrait not only of a passionate photographer but also of a father-daughter relationship in which the camera is a source of both connection and friction,” the hosts maintained.
Raghu Rai, the protagonist of the closing film, along with the film’s director Avani Rai would be present during the screening that would be followed by an interaction session with the father-daughter duo.
Actress Nandita Das is scheduled to speak on the art of making a period film with readings from her debut-book “Manto & I” during the festival that would also include workshops on digital film-making by national award-winning filmmakers Nandan Saxena and Kavita Bahl apart from master classes on Chinese painting and calligraphy to be conducted by Chinese artist Weipu Chang.