Film Festival With A Difference

BBC News

February 28, 2006

By Sanjaya Jena
In Puri, Orissa

It's a film festival with a difference.

There are no entry forms, selection procedures, competitions, juries, awards, bureaucracies. There are simply a lot of films to be shown.

Bring Your Own Film Festival is an innovative event held on the sandy beaches of Puri in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. It has been drawing droves of filmmakers from home and abroad.

Anybody who has shot a film of any type, duration or format can land up at festival every February to get their work screened before an enthusiastic crowd comprising filmmakers, film lovers, artists, painters and even lay viewers.

The festival is just three years old but it seems to have created a space for itself.

Organised by a group of maverick filmmakers, the festival could go a long way in providing a platform for young and serious filmmakers, says organiser and national award winning film maker Kapilas Bhuyan.

The festival's open exhibition policy allows any film in any format to be screened in the festival.

This throws up an obvious question - How do the organisers ensure quality?

Festival enthusiasts have their rationale.

More:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4754476.stm