Mysuru: The third edition of ‘Paridrishya’, an international short film and documentary film festival, organised by Mysuru Cinema Society (MCS) and Bharatiya Chitra Sadhana, will be held in Mysuru on February 1 and 2.
Addressing a media conference here on Monday, MCS secretary Padmavathi S Bhat said that the society is happy with the response over the past two years and is making arrangements for the third edition of the festival, in an organised manner.
“The competition will be in two categories – students and professionals. While there is no entry fee for students, professionals will have to pay a nominal fee,” she said.
Special screening
“On February 3 and 4, the second edition of the festival was held at Muktagangotri campus of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), in Mysuru. It had a line-up of over 300 short films and documentaries, from 20 countries, showcasing a diverse array of narratives and film-making styles. Among them, 50 were selected for screening, including 10 Kannada films and five international films. There was a special film screening, for hearing-impaired children, to make cinema accessible to all. The screening for hearing-impaired children will continue, this year. Besides, there is a plan to dedicate either half a day or a whole day to screen children’s films,” she said.
The MCS was established in 2022 and the first edition of the festival was held at the hall of Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy in Bengaluru.
Any language
Padmavathi said, as this is an international festival, films of any language can participate, because cinema is a universal language of storytelling through the lens. “The films made after 2022 are eligible to participate in the festival. The duration of the short films can be from one minute to 45 minutes and that of documentary films can be from 30 minutes to 100 minutes. A total of 25 awards will be presented to outstanding contributions, spanning categories such as Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, and Best Sound Composition,” she said.
Padmavathi said, Chidananda S Naik, a student of Film and Television Institute of India, from Mysuru, who won the Best Student Film award for his ‘Suryakanthi Hooge Modalu Gottagiddu’ (Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know) in the La Cinef competitive section at Cannes Film Festival 2024, also had participated in Paridrishya last year. The same film was exhibited here, last February, she added.
Advisors
Divisional coordinator of MCS G R Chetan said, renowned film-makers like Prakash Belawadi, Girish Kasaravalli and Rajendra Singh Babu are on the advisory board of the society. Last year, renowned Malayalam film-maker Rajagopal and Richa Khandelwal Bhat were the jury members.
“We wish to promote films beyond entertainment and focus on artistic expression, for information and education. Our jury members will be drawn from all aspects of film-making,” he said.
Upload films for competition and screening on https://filmfreeway.com/paridrishya before November 30.
For details, visit: www.mysurucinemasociety.com or call: 99805 96824.
The office-bearers and members of MCS released the poster of the third edition of ‘Paridrishya’, on the occasion, on Friday.