Kolkata: Few in the film industry were aware that director Tapan Sinha once penned a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The rest would not have known this fact had Banerjee not shared this detail at the inauguration of the 30th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), which is commemorating Sinha's centenary year. At the Dhono Dhanyo auditorium on Dec 4, Banerjee also released a book on Sinha's centenary before the screening of his ‘Galpo Holeo Sotyi'.
The film festival commenced with a dance programme conceptualised, designed, and penned by Banerjee and choreographed by Dona Ganguly. It was followed by a felicitation ceremony. What captivated many was Banerjee's mention of Sinha's letter. Referring to Dec 4, 2006, Banerjee said, "On this day, I began a 26-day-long hunger strike. I did not meet Tapan-da but preserved the letter he penned to me, congratulating my movement. I also knew Ritwik Ghatak's wife, Surama-di. She used to organise a Durga Puja in Alipore where I went...," Banerjee told an auditorium full of 1,760 guests, while international delegates on the dais, like Argentina's Pablo Justino Cesar, Slovakia's Martin Sulik, Greece's Katia Pantazi, Czech Republic's Vlad Petri, Germany's Ayse Polat, Iran's Nahid Hassanzadeh and Afghanistan's Alka Sadat listened in rapt attention.
Tollywood lacked the "lobby", rather than the "talent", to surpass Bollywood and Hollywood, Banerjee pointed out. "I have requested KIFF committee members to accord equal prominence to Bengali and international films from 29 countries," she said, requesting international delegates to harness local talent, pursue collaborative projects and portray India in their films.
KIFF chairperson Goutam Ghose described cinema as a "collective memory of time". "At KIFF, we shall witness this memory through feature films, short films and documentaries from all over the world," Ghose said.
Sourav Ganguly, who was at the KIFF inauguration for the ‘third season', welcomed international guests, saying Kolkata was a "very understated city". "You will realise that it has a lot more than what you see," he said. Ghatak and Mrinal Sen's reference also emerged in actor-turned-MP Shatrughan Sinha's speech. "Madhabi-di is my most favourite actor. I saw many of her films at FTII. Our vice-principal then was Ritwik Ghatak," Sinha said.
International jury member Pablo Ceasar, who had film screenings at KIFF previously, reminded that both nations traced their cinematic history to 1896, a year after the Lumiere brothers presented the discovery of their recording of moving images to the world. "In that year, they travelled to India to showcase their visual revolution. That excited Hiralal Sen, who with his brother Motilal, founded the Royal Bioscope Company in 1898. In 1896, Argentina saw the screening of films by the Lumiere brothers at Buenos Aires' Odeon Theater," Ceasar said.
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