The Hindu : National : Film by destitute boys gets selected for international festival

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Thursday, Aug 16, 2007
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Film by destitute boys gets selected for international festival

Indrani Dutta

KOLKATA: A short film made by two teenagers who are being raised at a destitute boys’ home, has been selected for the Auburn International Film and Video Festival slated to be held in Sydney, Australia, between September 17 and 21, 2007.

The film on children’s rights’ entitled ‘We See’ will vie for a place from among 60 entries by children, youth and adults with themes revolving around children and youth.

The 13-year-old Tapa Bhowmik who has directed the film or his cameraman Rinku Babu Mondal, a 14-year boy from the same Home, are gross examples of child rights’ violation, having lost their childhood in sweatshops and farms where they toiled for years till they were rescued by the Centre For Child Development (CCD) a NGO which runs a home for such boys at Madhyamgram in the north of the city.

While for Tapa and Rinku this is the first time time that their work has got selected for viewing at an international forum, for the children of this boys home winning awards is slowly becoming a way of life as their creativity finds expression through the moving images of a camera.

Creative expression

They act, direct and write the screenplay for the movies in between their study hours. Two boys from the home Sahiful and Ashiful have already tasted success when their work won awards, at the Kids for Kids International Film Festival in Italy for three years in a row and certificates, at the Chicago International Childrens Film Festival.

Today, filmmaking has become their window on the world and the prizes brought by the kids who lived on the fringes of society, have only spurred them on.

Workshops conducted

Their first brush with filmmaking came through a workshop held by a Palestinian filmmaker who had come to the Kolkata Film festival in 2003.

Another such workshop was held by Manav Jalan who made the film ‘Safed Hathi’. That was when they were taught to paint their thoughts on paper and then ready the script.

They were also taught the technicalities of handling a camera and the importance of angles and frames.

Subsequent workshops were attended by these boys who have also conducted workshops to share some of the skills and experiences. One such was held in Bangalore and funded by software company Adobe.

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