Kochi Metro is making good progress, not just in Kochi but abroad too. We are talking here about the Kochi Metro Short Film Fest which is spreading its reach to the UAE where it is trying to identify and nurture filmmaking talents among Indian expats. The aim is to ready 45 short films on the 45th National Day of the UAE (on December 2).
What started as informal WhatsApp chats has now led to the formation of Kochi Metro UAE Short Film Fest. Actor Raveendran, festival director of Kochi Metro Short Film Fest, speaks: “In the past two-and-a-half months, we used to gather over a WhatsApp group from 8.30 pm to 11 pm (UAE time) and discuss films. Film experts are there to take classes for the members, do panel discussion, listen to other members and answer their doubts through voice chats,” he informs.
Scenarist-film director Mecartin, Tamil cinematographer Sathya and sound designer Arun Varma have taken voice classes for the 250-member group.
The film fest launched two days ago will have more outings in October and November first week in the UAE. Fest director Mohanlal’s message was screened at the launch. Themed-competitions for films on the topics ‘Expatriation’ (of 10-minutes) and ‘Love’ (of five minutes) are conducted during the festival. The five-minute films are for beginners who are taking films on easy available technology devices like mobile phone cameras.
The mass film-making campaign starting November 2 has more interesting things to explore. “We have a common topic for filmmaking — Happiness. The UAE has got a Minister of Happiness and we are expressing solidarity to such a step. Finding filmmakers is the activity till November. They’ll be trained with seminars and workshops. Rest of the things, filming and funding are left to the makers. The 45 claps can be heard on December 2,” explains Raveendran.
This is a wider canvas, so that expats from across India can take movies in their languages to say Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. “Our WhatsApp group itself has as many as 60 filmmakers. But the campaign is not restricted to Malayali expats and the search is on a wider space.” On January 26, Republic Day, all movies shall be ready for the screens.
