SHOBDO KOLPO BHROM update

Rajasree Mukherjee introduces "Wagah" - the inaugural film of Shobdo Kolpo Bhrom

Shobdo Kolpo Bhrom, a movie festival for youngsters to view and discuss films from all over the world, was inaugurated with great enthusiasm at Nandan III on the 25th of August at 6pm. Feluda, or Sabyasachi Chakrabarty formally inaugurated the event with the comment that the space for good cinema for children was rapidly shrinking in our mainstream media. He emphasized that even though television programmes for children were rapidly becoming degenerate, television was a great medium for educating the child. He himself owed a lot to National Geographic and Discovery Channel for his interest in wildlife and environment.

"Television can be a great teacher. TV has taught me this love for wildlife and environment conservation", says chief guest Sabyasachi Chakrabarty .

Shri Nilanjan Chattopadhyay, CEO of Nandan, too lamented the lack of good cinema for children in India. He said that during the Kolkata Film Festival, children’s films are given a special slot everyday, but even that has not been able to generate the required enthusiasm for children’s films. To give a boost to children’s films, the Chief Minister is contemplating to build a special auditorium in Nandan complex for children.

Anshuman Das, co-ordinator of Harekarakamba says, " Cinema is a great pedagogical tool. We must learn to explore it in the classroom".

The two inaugural films for the day were Little Terrorist and Wagah. Both were short films on the Indo Pak border. Even though the films may not have been made for children, both the films had children as central characters. These films were specially selected because they present a perspective that is different from the perspective of nationalism projected in mainstream films like Border and LOC.

A young viewer asks the BSF officer, "How do border guards of the two nations feel when they stand face to face across the fence?"

After the screening there was an animated discussion on the issues raised in the films. A senior BSF officer, who was specially invited to the show, answered all queries on the border situation. The festival curator ended the programme with the quote by John Lennon:

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

The first day’s screening at BITM and at Nandan III were house full. The BITM shows were for school children. The discussions were moderated by SV Raman and Anjum Katyal. The evening show at Nandan III was open to the public. The film screened was Majid Majidi’s Colour of Paradise. Neha Banka, a 2nd year Mass Communication student from St. Xavier’s College introduced the film.