Sumana Kittur
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Sumana Kittur doesn’t imagine in numbers, however content material. Her physique of labor is a testimony to her perception. Having began as an affiliate director and lyricist with Aa Dinagalu, she went on to make her mark as director with films like Slum Bala, Kallara Sante, Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu and Edegarike for which she gained the Karanataka State Award.
The director was on the jury for worldwide quick films at the lately concluded Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). She shared the bench with Festival Director, Alejandro Gonzalez, and critic, Diego Faraone.
Sumana, who was additionally a journalist, talks about the affect of quick films, the trade’s patriarchal mindset and extra.
Edited excerpts
How has your expertise with BISFF been?
I’ve all the time beloved quick films and have a large respect for brief movie makers. I’ve been referred to as a quick movie ambassador by buddies in the movie world. There are filmmakers who end their movie course and need to make films. Getting an investor on board, nevertheless, is not any baby’s play. So as an alternative of killing their goals, these sensible abilities inform a visible story in a compressed kind. Short films create a bridge between the maker and cinema. If we appears to be like at our movie trade, there are such a lot of administrators who’ve made wonderful quick films and at the moment are names to reckon with in the lengthy kind cinema too.
Anand Varadarajan, the mind behind BISFF deserves a shout out. He began with Suchitra and right now has created this superb platform for brief films. While we screened quick films earlier at choose locations earlier, to have a competition devoted to quick films accredited by The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Bengaluru, is all because of Anand’s dream. His staff additionally must be credited for its great organisational abilities.
Are there platforms for brief films or do individuals have to attend for devoted festivals to view them?
In Karnataka, I really feel we shouldn’t have ample screens to showcase quick films. In Puducherry, nevertheless, whenever you watch a movie, both earlier than the fundamental characteristic or throughout the interval, quick films are screened. I hope to see this tradition develop in Karnataka too. We ought to have extra platforms and screens to advertise quick films right here too. That is the means movie viewing may also change in the close to future. Today, individuals are impatient is not going to sit for 3 hours to observe a movie. There is a pattern of micro viewers, the place individuals search for films which can be made in a minute. All they need to know is the theme; nothing extra, nothing much less.
How simple or troublesome is it to inform a story in a minute?
It is a Herculean activity. Yet, the films I’ve watched as a jury member have stumped me. Every story, theme and therapy is exclusive. The makers have succeeded in sharing a idea in underneath 15 minutes. For me it’s like compressing a 2,000-word article into a 150-word snippet as a author, which is hard too.
Do you miss journalism?
Of course! That is why I nonetheless write. In truth, when individuals ask me what I do, the first phrase that involves thoughts is journalist and then a filmmaker.
A streaming platform had a quick movie competition lately. While films from throughout the world have been streamed, there have been none from Karnataka. What do you assume is the cause for this?
It just isn’t like we have now a dearth of expertise. It is advertising and selling the place I see a lacuna. Many will not be conscious of those final steps in filmmaking. It is a pity as these filmmakers put in a lot of effort into their films utilizing the greatest tools and cameras. We want a sturdy group of patrons for brief films. Just one Sumana speaking is not going to make a distinction. Makers, actors and producers from mainstream cinema have to advertise this medium, solely then we are able to develop collectively. Our stereotypical mindset of pondering solely mainstream, full size options has to alter. Also, movie advertising and promotion ought to be taught. Talents ought to know the way they will faucet into the huge platforms and sources out there on the market. I plan to begin a basis to advertise and showcase quick films.
Your ideas on Women in cinema.
We have many actors, however few ladies enterprise into the technical elements of filmmaking in the Kannada movie trade. A lady is ostracised in the trade, which continues to be patriarchal in its mindset. Even our tales rejoice machismo and a girl is all the time depicted as a weak character or one who believes she is a slave to serve her relations. Very few tales depict a girl as a sturdy character and a handful that present a girl combating for her rights. The one one who has portrayed ladies in a highly effective method, aacording to me, is Siddalingaiah.