22 febbraio 2014

The brave new world of indie films

[Archivio] Vi segnalo l'articolo The brave new world of indie films, di Parul Khanna, pubblicato da Brunch l'8 dicembre 2013:

'Indie films demystified (...)
The generic definition of an indie film points to a small-budget project made and distributed by an independent source, without the intrusion of a big studio. But in India, distribution is a big hurdle, and most times, it happens only with the help of established studios. So our indie films are often made with money from independent sources or a producer who chips in. (...) An indie film could also be made by collecting money from multiple sources. (...) Unlike the parallel cinema movement of the ’70s and ’80s, which focused on social injustices and everyday struggles, today’s indie films are not bound by any one theme. (...) Song and dance routines are optional. (...)

Stories with passion
The reasons driving India’s new-age indie filmmakers are varied. (...) Most indie filmmakers cite world cinema and satellite television as influences and with changing technology, they also have a better means of telling their story than before. A film can now be shot on a digital motion picture camera. (...) Software for editing and music is easily available. (...) 

The roadblocks
If indie storytelling and filmmaking is original, then so are the ways to make and sell it. Big stars will fill theatres but cost money and compromise creativity. Even B-listers are often inaccessible. (...) Often, in the indie world, the star is not a person but a script. (...) Others cut location costs, edit everything on paper and plan better, so the project is more efficient. (...)

Changing tastes
Small films don’t always mean small successes. (...) This change in the way movies are being consumed is forcing filmmakers and production houses to change their thinking. (...) For big studios and stars, fringe films are also a means to invest in new audiences of the future. (...)

Release obstacles
While the nature of the stories has changed with indie cinema, other aspects are still fraught with old challenges. Once a movie is made, it just lies waiting for some Prince Charming distributor to pick it up. For films to be distributed and earn money, they still need to have stars. One reason distributors offer for not helping indie films is that they still aren’t drawing enough people to theatres. However, filmmakers complain that often films lose audiences because they aren’t advertised enough. But with promotion costs often running into four times an indie film’s budget, they’re understandably hard to promote too. (...) Several European countries (and the USA as well) make films direct to DVD or TV, solving the problem of distributors and cinema audiences India does. Add to it the threat of piracy, and it’s anyone’s guess how much money such a film will make. All of which means studio backing is an indie filmmaker’s only hope. Most indie filmmakers say the problem with the Indian distributor is that he acts as the spokesperson for what the audience wants. The distributor filters films even before the audience gets a chance to see them. (...)

Eyes on the world
All our indie films benefit from doing the festival circuit before they come to India. (...) [Anupama] Chopra, a regular at Cannes for years, says that there is a palpable change in our perception on the world stage. "For years, we had an Indian presence just on the red carpet. (...) This year, at Cannes, there were five movies officially selected." (...) The scene is evolving in India, too. (...) With an eye on a growing need for filmmakers to be trained like those in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, the National Film Development Corporation of India has launched a lab of its own. (...) Still, non-mainstream cinema needn’t and shouldn’t be a byword for boring. That would be the death of the genre. No movie or filmmaker, by default, becomes good, just because it is indie'.

Chander Pahar: locandine, trailer e recensione

Chander Pahar, costosissimo film distribuito il 20 dicembre 2013, è, ad oggi, il campione d'incassi nella storia del cinema bengali. Al botteghino si è comportato dignitosamente anche al di fuori dei confini del Bengala occidentale: a Mumbai, ad esempio, pur subendo la concorrenza del blockbuster Dhoom:3, CP si è difeso bene. La pellicola è diretta da Kamaleswar Mukherjee e interpretata dal giovane divo Dev. La sceneggiatura si basa sul famoso romanzo omonimo d'avventure del 1937 di Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadyay. Le riprese sono state  effettuate quasi interamente in Sudafrica. Trailer. Vi segnalo la recensione firmata da Anjan Dutt, pubblicata da The Telegraph il 24 dicembre 2013:

'Sometimes films are produced for breaking new grounds. Temporary gains are unimportant. (...) Chander Pahar (...) I am certain will change the course of Bengali cinema in the next three years. The most expensive Bengali film till date (...) will inspire if not force the Bengali industry to be more dynamic in scale, thought, courage. And the actual returns of this film will be evaluated by the quality and success of films that will follow Chander Pahar in the next three years. (...) Kamaleswar Mukherjee will go down in history for braving the very difficult journey filled with risk but full of confidence. After a long time a Bengali film made me feel proud. (...) Almost 85 per cent of the film was spellbinding, gorgeous and filled with sheer good taste. (...) With Chander Pahar he [Kamaleswar Mukherjee] enters a different league where confidence and sheer hard work are evident in almost every frame. (...) I only wish editor Rabiranjan Maitra had done away with the frequent slow-mo and ramping, and resorted to just cutting, because they distract you from the pace of the narration. (...) Dev’s almost childlike fearlessness to conquer the unknown heightens the philosophy of the basic text. I was weary of the commercial star till the film started, but through the viewing was convinced that no one else could have played Shankar. (...) Dev combines sheer strength with utter vulnerability that works magic. (...) Dev’s entry into serious cinema succeeds superbly because he simply whacks the ball out of the field. Credit goes to Kamaleswar for using Dev’s vulnerability as his strength. (...) There have been many alterations of the original text, but most of them work immensely because the writer and director make it dramatic and believable. (...) There is so much inherent power in the visuals that a lesser elaborate and more haunting, minimalistic score perhaps would have been apt. (...) But the player who is literally responsible for the victory is (...) Soumik Halder. Here is a film from Bengal where almost 90 per cent of the cinematography is sheer brilliance. (...) Together with the production designer Nomonde Ngema, Soumik works out series of sequences where one does not need to hear anything but just keep watching. (...) To me it looks and feels far bigger than a 15crore project. Far glorious than many bigger budget Hindi adventures I have ever seen'. .