FICCI to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema

The fourth edition of the Media and Entertainment Business Conclave (MEBC) conducted by the Entertainment Division of the  Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to be held on October 16 and 17 at Hotel Park Sheraton here will have a special session to celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema. The event will be chaired by actor Kamal Haasan.

Apart from actors and filmmakers from all four south Indian film industries, Oscar-award winning producer of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Barrie Osborne, will also take part in the event. “He would guide filmmakers about how international films can be made here,” said Kamal Haasan, at an event to announce the details about the conclave. This is the third time that the conclave will be held here.

K Hariharan of L V Prasad Film and Television Academy said a montage of about 130 films will be screened at the conclave as a tribute to the greats who have made Indian cinema proud. “India is the only country where 90 per cent of the films shown are Indian films and only 10 per cent are foreign films. It’s something we should be proud of,” he said.

The two-day conclave will discuss setting up Skills Development Centres for base-level technicians like light men and others. “Film institutes produce technicians at a higher level like cinematographers, sound engineers and screen writers and there is no training available for the below-the-line workers. They learn the craft in the actual working conditions that gives rise to mistakes and accidents,” said Kamal Haasan.

The conclave will also have a screenplay writing workshop to be hosted by Hariharan and the participants would be introduced to software that aid screenplay writers. Experts like Singeetham Srinivasa Rao and Saurab Shukla will also deliver a talk at the workshop.

There will be a special session on digital production and world-renowned technicians will give a hands-on experience on Red Camera for participants.

Registration fees for the conclave is Rs 5,000 and it can be done at www.ficci-frames.com.