Watch and support

Films showing at the festival are grouped under three broad categories: Gems from the Past, Off the Beaten Path and New Discoveries

In February 2021, online distribution company FilmKaravan, which produced the Emmy-winning Netflix show Delhi Crime, collaborated with YouTube to launch the Bandra Film Festival with over 50 films in different genres, formats and languages from diverse parts of the country.

The films showing at the online festival belong to three broad categories. Gems from the Past includes titles like Shivajee Chandrabhushan's black-and-white feature Frozen, starring Danny Denzongpa. It's about the struggles of a family in the stunning and yet harsh landscape of Ladakh. The section also features Aamir Khan-starring gangster film Raakh. Off the Beaten Path includes films like Nina Paley's highly original animated work Sita Sings the Blues which weaves myth with shadow puppetry and jazz, and Mamta Murthy's National Award-winning Manipur-set documentary Fried Fish, Chicken Soup and a Premiere Show, about the troubled region's film industry and its effects on the lives of its locals. There is also New Discoveries, which has films like Kamal Moolwani's short Neem Jamun about a 12-year-old boy and the journey he undertakes with his grandmother.

Each film is available for a specific period on the site's YouTube channel, and the festival, which has added actor Abhay Deol and New York Indian Film Festival director Aseem Chhabra to its advisory board, is open to submissions all round the year. It will also feature interviews and live interactions with people associated with the titles.

Sanjay Bachani

Moreover, linked to each film is a fundraiser with a Milaap.org donation link where viewers can support the films and filmmakers of their choice, in this challenging time for independent cinema. "The concept of pay-per-view is only beginning to pick up in India," says Sanjay Bachani, managing partner at FilmKaravan and OTT television production company Golden Karavan. "We are used to free content on the internet. With OTT penetration, we are still getting acclimatised to subscription. Paying for per piece of content is some miles away. Given the audience psyche and the current standing market dynamics, we have fared pretty well," he says of the response the initiative has garnered so far. "Also, this is a pro bono aspect of the festival, so advertising or influencing the viewers did not feel right. We have left it purely to viewer discretion."

WHAT: Bandra Film Festival
WHERE: https://www.bandrafilm festival.com/
WHEN: Ongoing