Come January and Bhubaneswar finds itself playing host to hundreds of film lovers from across the country and beyond. Though only in its sixth edition, the JDCA National Film Festival on Arts & Artistes is already a highlight in the cultural calendar of the city. This non-competitive thematic annual event is the only documentary film festival on art and artists.This year, the festival, which was inaugurated by Governor M C Bhandare on Wednesday, features over 25 films on the theme of ‘Celebrating and Reminiscing Masters’.The opening five minute documentary film, ‘Anvesan: Fakir Mohan Senapati’ was directed by Monica Das. Based on a short story by novelist late Fakir Mohan Senapati, the movie revolves around a minor girl and her desire for education in a conservative society. Another Odia short film to be screened on the day was ‘A Tale of Two Worlds: Prafulla Mohanty’ by Biyot Prajana Tripathy. An interesting screening of the day was ‘Man, Tiger and Spirit’, a six minute animation film based on themes of tribal mythology from Nagaland in North East India.The film is the first in a collection of animated folktales from the tribes of Nagaland. It is a production by the UK-based Adivasi Arts Trust in collaboration with the State Government of Nagaland. The film was directed by British animator and secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust, Tara Douglas. She portrays Spirit, Tiger and Man as three brothers born from the union between sky and earth. The three were unable to live together in harmony, and Man used his cunning to outwit Tiger, forcing him to live in the jungle. Man is separated from Spirit but becomes an important chief who remembers his dependence on nature.The second day saw screening of Suma Josson’s film Niyamgiri – You Are Still Alive, which had won the Vasudha Environment Award at the International Film Festival of India-2010 in Goa. It investigates the controversial Vedanta project for bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha. This uplifting documentary by Josson shows the deep spiritual, cultural and livelihood roots tribal groups have to Niyamgiri Hills; and their struggle to resist construction of a bauxite mine by Vedanta. Movies like A Tree, a Man, a Sea by Lipika Singh Darai, The Same Story by Nina Sabnani, Waiting by Shahji N Karun and BC Sanyal by Partho Chatterjee were also screened on the day. Besides film screenings, there was a poetry reading session by eminent Odia poets on Thursday.Odia painter and JDCA chairman Jatin Das said this year they have tried to highlight the life of great artists of the country and their contribution towards the society through art. For the first time, five-minute short films made by students of different parts of the country will be awarded at the festival.Six days of film making and Culture of street by M F Husain, Amol Palekar’s Bhena Shadej – a rare documentation of Ganasaraswati Kishori Amonkar, Asad Ali Khan by Renuka George, Khem Artist: Khemraj by Dharna Jaisinghani are some of the highlights of the final day of the festival on Friday. Das said the idea of the film festival is to not only revive documentary films but also rare art forms.Around 20 exhibition stalls have been erected at the festival venue to display traditional handicrafts, handlooms and publications.
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