For the first time, the Bengaluru International Film Festival (Biffes) will screen films online. In a bid to handle the pandemic-related challenges, the organisers are set to host the festival in a hybrid model from March 3-10.
So how does this system work? Online film-screening is a new phenomenon. Only some of the reputed international film festivals such as Sundance Film Festival, IFFR (Rotterdam), Toronto International Film Festivals and others have switched to the online mode in the past.
In the pandemic era, the online option is helpful for people who are apprehensive about travelling to the venue. Biffes has made sure people from anywhere in India can watch the films online. Organisers at Biffes are planning to screen at least 60-70 films from March 4 (Friday). Those who have registered for online streaming can access 10 films per day by logging on to online.biffes.org. The screenings begin from 9 am and films will be available for 24 hours. Within the time slot, any movie can be viewed multiple times.
The next day, a new set of 10 films will be uploaded for viewers. The Biffes team will monitor the traffic for each film and if any movie has a huge demand, then it could remain on the website for 36 or 48 hours.
Registered viewers can access the films through a username and password, which will be sent to them by the officials. Similar to the functioning of several OTT platforms, one registered account will work on four devices. People can watch films on their laptops and mobile phones.
Watch on TV
In a first for any film festival in India, films of Biffes can be watched on TV through a Fire TV stick. One can find the Biffes App on Fire TV's App store. Download and open the app and provide required instructions. You can start watching the films once the authentication is complete.
The organisers are optimistic of providing the viewers with the best collection under world cinema, Indian, and Asian competition categories. Some of the high profiles films include Sonia Liza Kenterman's 'Tailor', Omar El Zohairy's 'Feathers', Mohammed Rasoulof's 'There is No Evlil' and Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese's 'This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection'.
Thursday screening
The opening film of the festival will be 'Tailor' at the GKVK Campus at 8 pm. The movie will be live-streamed for registered public. Interested people can register for online streaming by logging on to biffes.org. The registration fee is Rs 400.