Develop multidisciplinary teaching

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One needs to develop a social consciousness and world view to learn documentary making;  panelists who spoke at the discussion on ‘Teaching documentary and short film’ at IDSFFK opined on Wednesday.‘‘Understanding the reality out there is what makes you a documentary maker,’’ said Pankaj Rishi Kumar, curator of Home Video section, adding that filmmaking, regardless of fiction and documentary, is much more than close-ups and mid-shots. Documentary is a powerful tool of activism. Therefore, one needs to have a heightened understanding of issues that cannot be classified into subjects of university curriculums, said Prof Radhika Khanna. She also said that a multidisciplinary teaching pattern needs to be developed, giving more importance to the aesthetic aspects of filmmaking. Baiju Chandran, assistant director, Doordarshan, said that teaching documentary making should involve exposure to documentaries and film festivals are the most important venues that attract aspiring documentary filmmakers. There is much more to learn about filmmaking than the changing technology, one has to have a respect for the subject, he added. Somnath Sen, who referred to himself as an accidental academic, said that one should understand documentary making to understand fiction films. Therefore, documentaries should be part of fiction film curriculum and should not be treated as a poor cousin of fiction films. He also said that documentaries are not given enough support in India, unlike countries like the US, where feature-length documentaries are screened in theatres along with fiction films. ‘’Technology is not a big deal any longer,’’ said Radhika Khanna. About exhibiting documentaries to the public, she said that there are easier ways to reach out to the public, with the emergence of New Media. The main focus on ‘documentary storytelling’ should be on the quality of films, which comes out of a conscious thought, she added. Another subject that came up at the discussion was the aura that is attached to filmmaking. Pankaj Rishi Kumar stood strongly for the demystification of filmmaking. ‘Filmmaking is not rocket science’, he said. The session was moderated by Sunny Joseph.