Mumbai: Lockdown Film Festival is a unique film festival which encouraged aspiring filmmakers to showcase their creativity. In collaboration with NFDC, Carrot films is showcasing the films on NFDC's OTT platform, Cinemas of India.
Actor Hiten Tejwani, who is one of the twelve members of the jury, spoke about how the festival carved a pathway for newcomers into the industry. “Every aspiring artiste be it, actor, the director needs just one platform to showcase their talent and Carrot Films just did that and I am honoured that I got to be a part of it. Because of their efforts, we got to witness these gems. Definitely carving a pathway into the industry,” he says.
The actor also feels the initiative to hold this festival has helped bridge the gap between content creators and distributors. “Most of the time we see that good content is lost midway or just dumped anywhere,” he adds.
Hiten says the ever-growing need for fresh talent in the industry encourages healthy competition.
Considering the limited amount of resources that the filmmakers had during the lockdown, the films turned out surprisingly good. There were over 300 hundred entries, out of which 20 short films have been shortlisted by the jury members. TCA Kalayani, Joint Secretary Films (Ministry of I&B) & Managing Director, NFDC India, says, “These films reaffirmed that ‘creativity cannot be locked down’ no matter what. There is so much untapped talent in India alone and by giving these films a platform we want to recognize their value. Each day I focus on new ways to operate and expand my own role to fit in new filmmakers and the Independent content creator’s priorities. These are times for innovative opportunities and we have to look for ways to grow the industry and become more efficient.”
