Book Fair Updates on January 29th aka GUILD-CHANDALI

Friends,

from yesterday we are unable to distribute our copies openly in the Book Fair due to hindrances from the guild. The problem started on the 27th. During the evening some guild officials came to table no. 157 aka Guruchandali. They tried to gather information about the films and the forum etc and instructed not to sale DVDs in the little magazine pavilion. They said that the pavilion is strictly meant for little magazines only and DVDs or such things should be sold from the IT pavilion. Yesterday they came again and threatened that they would be bound to throw Guruchandali out of the corner if the magazine does not stop selling DVDs. "It was there in the conditions. Haven't you read them?"they added.

So, from today, we suppose, we won't be able to distribute our copies in the open. If you come looking for one please contact one of these numbers to collect your copy.

Anamitra: 9883103809 / 9143251670

Sriparna: 9883504512

Arupratan: 9432860086

Snigdhendu: 9330948167

Debarghya: 9007336434

If the conditions don't change our copies won't be available after the 1st day of February.

We believe we produce an annual little magazine of films every year. That's what we take our no-budget films for. They can't stop our distribution this way!

Season Two

DVDs would be available from today at table No. 157, Guruchandali in Little Magazine Pavilion of Kolkata Book Fair, 2011.

Thanks.

Subimal Misra: Shot @ Underground

Subimal Misra: Shot @ Underground was planned as a film focused on the maverick anti-establishment author and his works. It was the first audio-visual project we took up, me, Snigdhendu and Sriparna, even before the formation of Little Fish Eat Big Fish. Arupratan Ghosh was talked into playing a character which was later portrayed by Abhishek Bhattacharya (Codename: Mahesh Chowdhury). Another character was played by Sumit Dey. Souva Chattopadhyay contributed to the film financially. It was a 25 minutes' short film. The incomplete version that is available now misses two major sequences that were included in the original script. We planned a Subimal on Subimal sequence that needed chroma keying. But the author was never ready to get out of his house and if you've ever been there you know of course it is impossible to set even a baby light inside his room! So, we had to reject that idea. Not only that, we had to drop the whole film due to lack of cooperation from the authors' end.

It went on like this, at first, when we approached Mr. Misra for the film he was overwhelmed and said "Although I have total faith in you people and your works or enthusiasm for activism I'd like to be a part of it. Please consider to share your ideas with me from time to time." It was just after the publication of Byas Khasra Sankhya. He was totally mesmerized with the cut-up Subimal Misra Jumpcut aka Asole Eti Subimal Misrer Golpo Hoe Uthte Parto. Then as the time passed by we realized that he expects nothing more than a biographical documentary from us and we were never ready produce a crap like that. We had our ideas more developed with the time and then his supervision started. You see, everytime we had to send a copy of the rush and a copy of the thing we had edited out of that. He used to say "I must know whether I have or haven't said something that doesn't quite goes with my image on the camera." We didn't object. We wanted the film to materialize but it was frustrating. He started behaving like a producer, shouting on the phone "How the hell can you edit the raw footage without my permission". It was not all his fault. There were some guys from Bangladesh, South India and Gujrat who kept on poking him on these issues. Subimal spoke of them several times without mentioning their names. Then Mr. Dhiman Dasgupta entered the scene. All we wanted was a voiceover from him but he kept on insisting that we should show him first on the screen, establish his identity and then we can use the voiceover through out the film till the end. And at the end we must show him again during the last part of his piece. We told him that we are not planning a documentary. He replied "You are only a child. You don't have enough knowledge about films. That's how films are made, you can't go beyond that!" The author himself by this time wanted a 'total view' of the 'thing we are going to make'! I sent him a letter via post. It consisted the whole screenplay and my take on the same. After a week Subimal replied to Snigdhendu on the phone

"

I couldn't make a sense out of that!

"

There were no cards left for us to play! We sent the whole thing and he, in turn, refused to cooperate! We don't like to work under conditions, we had to stall the project right there. We were busy with other productions too. LFEBF, the forum, was more than a year older and it was the time for the first release Five No Budget Films (2010). After that, we tried to convince the author once or twice over the phone but showed no ultra-enthusiasm. Subimal was rigid at his point. He wanted us to put even his mother in the film!

He never understood, or understood but was never ready to grant that he was not important at all for the film. It was his works, statements that we wanted to play with.

Where he lived in childhood or what school he attended was not of our interest.

In the month of September, 2010 Mr. Nilotpal Roy called Snigdhendu and suggested that we should stop the campaign and announce if we are not going to complete the film. In response I made a post on the blog.

And that was the end.

This January, I came to know via Youtube feed that someone called Basab Mukherjee has made a three and a half hour long 'Biographical Documentary' on Subimal Misra. Moreover, Dhiman Dasgupta and Nilotpal Roy are also featured in it with considerably good screen time! We congratulate them and express our sincere thankfulness to the spirit of the good work. We never wanted to make an ad film for the anti-establishment author, that was 'our fault'. In fact, if we could complete the film we'd have considered this title too -- Asole Eti Subimal Misrer Bigyapon Hoe Uthte Parto. Not only Mr. Dasgupta and Mr. Roy, we'd like to thank Harper Collins Publishers India Ltd too for publishing Subimal's works. Now, we have no reasons left to repent or regret. Yes, Mr. Misra is the maverick anti-establishment author from Bengal and according to his theory Ananda Bazar Publication is an institution but Harper Collins Publishers India Ltd is diffrent and not the same!

So, friends we've learnt a lot from the author. He was not, but his works were important to us.

Long live the anti-establishment!

Long live Subimal Misra!

Harper Collins Zindabaad!

- Anamitra Roy

SEASON TWO: NO BUDGET FILMS

Time and again we have been told that film making is a costly

affair. You need good cameras, lights, large crews, extravagant sets

and what not. All of these cost a pretty hefty amount of money.

We are a self-somposed group of independent artists trying

to express ourselves creatively through the film-media

without seeking any help from producers or financiers.

This is the 2nd season we are opting for a direct to DVD

release again.

This year we are releasing four films together

1) Basontogatha (2010)

Ballad of the Spring

Bengali, 14:46 min

Dir: Arupratan Ghosh

Watch the Trailer

BasantoGatha (Duration 15 Mnts) was shot during March- April '10, using a Canon Digital Camera (Non SLR). The ephemeral senses of those evenings in Kolkata and suburb surely added gestures of its own kind into the images. The fake blood , dropping down from the heart of the city, slapped me in the last day of shooting.

Nevertheless , we used few lines from “Hawa” (The Wind), a collection of poems By Arup Ghosh, in the film.
The arrows are much straighter this time! Hope all of us will have a comprehensive viewing of the film.

2) Jotugriho (2011)

Secret Footage

Bengali, 61:24 min

Dir: Anamitra Roy & Snigdhendu Bhattacharya

Watch the Trailer

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The Voyage: Souradeepta is a trendy teenager from a small township somewhere in Bengal. Being abducted by a mysterious guy he comes to know about a worldwide conspiracy against the cultural identity and versatility of human being. He was suggested to visit Kolkata in order to understand the all of it. Being both inspired and confused Souradeepta arrives at Kolkata where he conducts a survey amongst the youth, meets 'the guy who knows it all' and lights up a cigarette for 'the just murderer'.

The Encounter: Another mysterious guy who already had a screen appearance in the first segment abducts Avik and asks him about 'the mission'. Now-a-days, Avik has become a part of the corporeal city. He walks on the streets with thousands of distracting self-images around him. He is an award-winning filmmaker planning his next film on some novel by Sunil Gangopadhyay. Say the doggy dog world, he is in for it.
At the end of the film, Avik is re-introduced to an old text to see if he could recognize it.

3) Memories_Alternate Cut (2011)

Bengali, 22:40 min

Dir: Abhishek Bhattacharya

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"I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die."
-Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)

4) Chhobi Somporke Du-ek ta Kotha (2011)

Two or Three Things about Visuals

Bengali, 26:36 min

Dir: Sriparna Dey

Watch the Trailer

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In a private library a lonesome painter finds an old painting without a signature and his life changes all of a sudden. The this line between reality and dream evaporates. He starts to feel that he is living a nightmare and would never be able to come out of it...

Total Runtime: 125 minutes approximately.

Participatory Contribution Rs.100/- or more

The release is scheduled in Little Magazine Fair at

Rabindrasan, Kolkata on the evening (5:30 pm)

of 12th January, 2011

Come, join us

Support the no-budget wave...

For us, film is not an industry, rather an activism.

It is not all about gloss.

Regards

Five No Budget Films - PTP Release.

Enjoy!

Five No Budget Films on Pass The Popcorn

A Big Loss!!

Abhishek da (Mr. Abhishek Dasgupta) passed away late night yesterday (02.01.11). He was a lively joyous young guy who contributed a lot during our previous production. All the staircase sequence in "...Athoba Bhoy-er Golpo" aka "Or,a Horror Film" by Souva Chattopadhyay was shot at his house in Baje Shibpur, Howrah. He worked as one of the production controllers for the film. Moreover, he covered the release of Five No Budget Films (2010) in last book fair on behalf of electronic media (R Plus).

Just received the sad news today. It's unbelievable. Doctors reported that he was suffering from Liver Cancer not recognized earlier.

We mourn this untimely occurrence.....lost a invaluable friend of ours.....

Five No Budget Films (2010) Torrent released on Karagarga

The title explains it all.
For KG users, check out: http://karagarga.net/details.php?id=112106
or click, Five No Budget Films on KG

Cheers!