Independent Filmmakers Campaign To Save Indie Cinema. Join In.
9 October 2012
As India celebrates 100 years of cinema, a group of filmmakers have shown their dissatisfaction with the lack of support shown to independent cinema by filing a petition to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to “Save Indie Cinema”.
The petition has been jointly filed by National Award winning filmmakers Aparna Sen, Ashutosh Gowariker, Ashwin Kumar, Buddhadev Das Gupta, Girish Kasaravalli, Goutam Ghosh, Jahnu Barua, Janaki Viswanathan, Aamir Bashir, Nila Madav Panda, Onir, Rituparno Ghosh, Sachin Kundalkar, Suman Mukhopadhyay, Umesh Kulkarni, Vinay Shukla, Kaushik Mukherjee(Q), Subhash Kapoor and Oscar Award and National Award winning Sound Engineer Resul Prookutty.
The petition expresses how New Wave Indie Cinema (a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times) is under threat due to the lack of support independent filmmakers receive in exhibiting or broadcasting their films. They claim that big multiplexes that were given tax benefits to promote small budget films have actually been instrumental in the downfall of small cinema by pandering to the box office. In comparison cinemas in Europe and the US have multiple chains of theatres dedicated to supporting independent cinema.
12 suggestions have been put forward with the petition calling for the government to invest and develop spaces exclusively for indie films and for existing cinemas to allocate screenings to Indian independent films. The petition also calls for television channels to take responsibility in showcasing films made by independent Indian filmmakers.
The petition has been uploaded to change.org and has received over 1000 supporters over the last 3 days. To show your support simply click here
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