Attend this workshop in Versova to see the magic of creating a 16 mm film

(From left) Participants at a previous 16mm workshop; imprinting on celluloid

Harkat Studios is one of those platforms in the city that believes firmly in the magic of analogue films. In the past, they have organised the 16mm film festival as an effort in this direction. This weekend, their workshop Cameraless-16mm offers artistes tools, techniques, and a creative space to try their hands at making moving images on film without using a camera. This means working with found footage from existing film reels or animating blank ones by drawing and painting on them.

"We've organised workshops earlier that made use of other techniques that require a darkroom and chemicals, but this one is without the use of a camera or a darkroom. It focuses on the physicality of the medium, and not so much on the technicalities of using a camera and developing images using chemicals," shares Simran Ankolkar from Harkat Studios, who facilitates these workshops. The day-long session will begin with a demo where participants will learn about the medium and how they could achieve different results using a variety of interesting techniques that are applicable to it. Following this, they will get to play around with some of these techniques and create their own work. At the end of the workshop, participants will get to watch their work roll out through a 16mm projector.

Simran Ankolkar

Having worked on projects that involve digital techniques of filmmaking, this Versova studio doesn't compare both mediums. Instead, it encourages creators to dive in, open up, and have fun with all the possibilities, for all that our imagination and the cinematic mediums work hand-in-hand to create. "We conduct these sessions to encourage artistes to know about this alternative to digital filmmaking techniques. As a space, we're also trying to encourage a small revival of this medium and make it a bit more accessible. Even after the workshop ends, one can always go and get a film reel from markets like Chor Bazaar," Ankolkar signs off.

On: 25 June; 11 am to 6 pm onwards
At: Harkat Studios, Bungalow No 17, Aram Nagar Part 2, Versova, Andheri West
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 2,000