City filmmakers get IFFI entry

The much-awaited line-up for the Indian Panorama feature films at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2012 has finally been made. The presence of films made by the students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune has been a regular feature at IFFI. This year, two films by FTII students, Afterglow (directed by Kaushal Oza) and Allah is Great (directed by Andrea Iannetta) have been selected in the non-feature film section. The festival will take place in Goa from November 20 to 30.

A still from Allah is great

"I was very happy when my movie Afterglow was selected as it's a reputed film festival. It's a matter of grate pride for me, " said Kaushal Oza.

Oza's film is a tragic-comedy, about a Parsi widow who is trying to hold on to the memories of her dead husband even as relatives pour in to offer their superficial condolences. It delves on how she breaks free from the orthodox Parsi customs and comes to terms with her loss.

"The movie was shot over 10 days in a house in Mumbai and all the crew were from FTII. I made a conscious decision to cast only Parsi actors for the film to get the feel of the characters right. I was lucky that some of the best Parsi theater actors in Mumbai believed in the script and agreed to be a part of the film without a single penny in return. It has already been noticed internationally in film festivals in England, Italy and Portugal. We hope it reaches out to a larger number of audiences and we are able to touch their hearts," added Oza. Avinash Arun, cinematographer of Allah is Great says the movie was shot in 2011 and was their final diploma project.

"The movie is how we feel about different languages and it's an universal subject. It was shot at four differrent places and it took almost 10 days to finish a 24-minute film." The movie is about Frank Asmas, a Danish engineer who specialised in Aeolian energy who has a mishap abroad.

"For common people like us, FTII is the best thing to happen. It gives an opportunity to everyone to try their hand at film-making," concluded Avinash.u00a0