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Every year, IFFI invites prominent film personalities and cinema experts to conduct masterclasses and be a part of in-conversation sessions on various aspects of filmmaking. This year, too, film buffs joined for in-conversation sessions to get an insight into the process of filmmaking. From Hrithik Roshan to Shoojit Sircar, experts from the industry shared insights about their work at the festival. At NFDC’s (National Film Development Corporation of India) Film Bazaar, which is also organised on the sidelines of IFFI, there were sessions on shooting in the hills to casting and VFX usage, etc for aspiring filmmakers.

Engaging discussions on OTT series keep the audience hooked at IFFI
One of the most packed sessions at IFFI this year were the ones on the popularity of The Family Man, The Storytelling of Sardar Udham and Prasoon Joshi’s masterclass where he underlined the importance of being society-centric with one’s work among other things. This time, IFFI has been organised in a hybrid format with both virtual and physical screenings and sessions. As this was the first year when IFFI collaborated with OTT platforms, so the audience got a chance to discuss and understand the vision of filmmakers and actors better – be it Manoj Bajpayee talking about playing a common man in The Family Man, or the writers of Maharani discussing how the writing of the series took place through Zoom meetings, or over the phone. While Madhur Bhandarkar said that the concept of his films always originates from him, Shoojit Sircar shared that in many ways he has lived the story of his films. Giving an example of his film October, he said, “The films I have made have somehow been associated with me. With October, a lot of the film is part of my life because my mother was comatose and I was there with her in the ICU for three months, so whatever sequences are filmed in the hospital are inspired by my personal experiences.”

A session on short films
Aspiring filmmakers got a chance to understand the rising demand for short films. Cécile Blondel of Gobelins School of Image, Paris, in her virtual masterclass on ‘Why Making A Short Film’ is exciting said, “We have been asking our students for the last 45 years to make a short film as part of the course, and these films are an asset to us. The fact that people can watch them on their phone while commuting, or at their convenience also increases the attractiveness of the short films.”