Vatavaran: How long should a documentary be?

The Indian Express, Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Participants debate length of documentaries; animation & student categories included in film section this time

"THERE are some people who care and there are some who do no". The audience greeted this punchline of a three-minute animation documentary - Why Not by Paritosh Kumawat - one of the entries in the competitive student category at Vatavarn, the wildlife and environmental festival. Today was Vataran's second day and the floor was open to debate following the screenings.

There are two new categories in the film section this year - animation and student categories. The student category is for experimental, low-budget films that cannot compete with large scale movies". Animation is a powerful medium of communication, which immediately grabs attention, but is unused in India. My modus operandi is making the audience laugh while tackling serious issues", says Paritosh.

From the "mindless mining" at the Kudremukh mines and langurs helping out in policing, to the friendly shark whale of Gujurat - the range of documentaries was vivid, exciting and experimental.

Anirban Datta, a Delhi-based filmmaker, is showcasing Shadows of Tehri at the festival. "…. Although this documentary is made specially for the locals of Tehri, we have to realize that the dam is an emotional issue for others," says Datta. Issues thrown up at the end of the screenings - most raised by the audience - included the length of a documentary. Screenings varied from one of 45 minutes. Prominent filmmaker Shekhar Dattatri's documentary, Mindless Mining-the tragedy of Kudremukh on iron ore mining in Kudremukh's national sanctuary was 10 minutes long. "When we talk of issues that most men don't know about, it is important to keep your film short. It's also imperative not to exaggerate the facts, even if one is doing it for a cause," Dattatri said.

Other events included a retrospective by British filmmaker Richard Brock and documentary films by Asian filmmakers. A seminar on corporate social responsibility, two workshops on TV and environmental journalism were also held.