By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 28: The quaint town of McLeod Ganj yesterday hosted the 12th edition of the ‘Free Spirit Film Festival’ which boasts a myriad roster of films submitted from all over the world, 21 of which will be shown over the course of next four days.
Lobsang Wangyal known for his eclectic fashion sense and his enterprising initiatives such as organizing events such as the ‘Miss Tibet pageant’, presided as the Director of the festival this time around. Labeling the event as “the original” film festival of Dharamshala, Lobsang on the opening night yesterday said the initiative is his attempt “to make the society a little more vibrant,” also adding that the town being a “melting point” thrives on the diversity, much like his film selection this year.
The 21 films chosen for showcase includes; Red Clothes (2016), a documentary by Lida Chan tells the ongoing cheap labor force producing world class fashion apparels at the cost of human rights in Cambodia, Sudhanshu Sharma’s feature Kalichaat (2016) on the drought-affected Malwa- Nimar region in Madhya Pradesh and opening film, and documentary by Hartley Woolf, Humans of Varanasi (2016) documenting Tibetan photographer’s project to help poverty ridden families living by the Ganges with help from the proceeds from his photos. Other entries include Free (2015) by Croatian Tomislav Zaja, Svet Doytchinov’s The Date (2015) Indian Director Jennifer Alphonses’s The Take Over (2015), among others.
Lobsang Wangyal told Phayul, “There was a huge vacuum of not having a platform where people from here and elsewhere could showcase their work. The idea is to provide young Tibetans with the platform to showcase their films.” The 2016 FSFM did not have a single Tibetan made film, not even among the 80 submissions for the festival. Lobsang laments, “If no Tibetan submits any film, what can I do?.”
He further says that young Tibetan film enthusiasts should take time to learn the craft and not just complain about lack of support for their half baked works. “I notice that there are many young Tibetan filmmakers who make feature length films as soon as they get access to a camera. They should go to film making schools and learn what goes into making a film and various other aspects such as production and even marketing before taking on projects,” Lobsang told Phayul.
The festival that promotes independent films will also give out category awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, etc, decided by a grand jury. Also the audience will vote for an Audience Award.
The film festival started in 2004, mentioned that, true to its title, free spirit, “It has no boundaries, and screens films in all genres from all over the world.”
