The deadline for short film submissions via Filmfreeway and Festhome has passed. More than 150 submissions were received from 28 countries. Yoga is solely responsible for securing so many films from so many different nations. He receives around 100 calls every day from all over the world for information. He not only patiently answers numerous questions, but he also fills up documents and provides information. He has to coordinate, download all of the films, posters, trailers, and working photos into separate folders. He must also submit the videos to the members of the jury, organize with them, and respond to all technical questions. It’s a colossal undertaking.
The selection of short films for the festival is a rigorous process. The initial selection is chosen based on adherence to the Ooty Short Film Festival’s norms and regulations, such as time length, short film format, and so on. Then the jury members view all the films and rate them according to the guidelines fixed by the festival. The films are ranked and then go to the curator for his approval. During this process, the jury members and curator select the award-winning films.
The Ooty Short Film Festival 2021 has established five Elephant Awards: best film, best director, best performance, best cinematography, and best editing. We also have two awards for films in the local languages of the Nilgiris District.
One of the most important guidelines we follow is that no film should be rejected without fair consideration. Every film should be viewed and discussed. We discuss films that were chosen to be rejected rather than those that were accepted. Because we are all aware of how tough it is to make a film.
The curator and jury members chose 118 short films from a pool of 150 for this year’s Ooty Short Film Festival. Aside from these films, it is also crucial to include films created by Ooty filmmakers and films made in native languages. We can’t ignore them, even if it means compromising the film festival’s standards. Personally, I believe it is critical to motivate and assist them in order for them to produce better films in the future.
When we added them all together, we came up with 121 short films.
The challenge now is to devise a timetable that would allow all of the films to be played in three days.
Making the schedule for the film festival is something I usually love doing. It’s like a poker game where you are constantly shuffling the films based on time, language, and country. We must do honour to the films, the audience, and the crowd by selecting the right films. We also need to find time for opening and closing events, among other things.
In most cases, I do the scheduling component in a single day. Before releasing it to the public, I usually seek feedback from the jury members as well as the filmmakers. I make every effort to consider their thoughts and recommendations.
Following the schedule, the next critical step is to apply for a censorship certificate. All information (title, country, synopsis, etc.) on the films chosen for public screening must be sent to the Joint Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, New Delhi. They’ll go through the information and, if required, the films, and then permit us to screen them. This stage is not required for short films, but we like to follow all of the Indian government’s rules and regulations.
The challenge of Yoga is also to request 4K format resolution of their films so that they can be projected using a 4K projector. It is challenging work because few filmmakers shoot in 4K, so we must now modify each film to ideal projection quality so that the films are neither pixelated nor stretched out when projected.
And, after the program is established, it is again Yoga’s responsibility to sequence the films in accordance with the screening schedule.
This part of the festival is highly technical and complex. Since the second edition of the Ooty Film Festival, yoga has been a part of my projects. He also accompanied me to the John Abraham International Short Film Festival in Kozhikode, Kerala. As a result, he understands exactly what to do and how to execute it.
It’s a blessing to have team members like Yoga.
We are just 8 days away from the festival.
Early in the morning, I received a WhatsApp message from my journalist friend.
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This is great to read ‘behind the scenes’ process of this festival. Lots to gather and learn.