The 0ne Rupee Film - 2

We have started a project named The 0ne Rupee Film. The film does not look forward to traditional producers neither to traditional distributors but to your support and contribution. The film will be made by whatever you donate. These are some recent posts shared from the official blog

If you are interested please follow the blog http://onerupeefilm.blogspot.in/

Or the official Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/onerupeefilm

Friday, March 9, 2012

Promised Post: Explanation, Expectation, Resolution

I hope I don't need to explain the delay. If you are a reader of this blog you must have already guessed that I'm really not doing some office-work, neither do I have a secretary to do this job for me and just like you, I too have my own problems like depression etc. Today, I updated my old website today for the first time as well as an old blog after 2010. And now, I really don't have much time. I'll have to leave soon for the city, I must be there by night. Anyway, let's come to the point.

Why is the minimum amount of contribution still Re.1 while I'm clearly stating that even more than Rs. 25 k is welcome from a single person?

My answer is: See, Firstly, Little Fish Eat Big Fish was initiated and founded in 2008 by me, Sriparna and Arupa da (Arupratan Ghosh). It's been quite a long time since then. In this period we've learnt a lot of things about films and also about other things. We have released three DVDs on our own. For various reasons we were compelled to set the minimum participatory contribution at Rs.100 (150-200 for other states). In kolkata till date spending 100Rs. for 5 short films is not an easy thing for all the students. Yes, there are students who can spend Rs.1000 everyday just for anything but they were not our target audience. People who found interest in our works mostly belong to middle and lower-middle class. What we used to do is, we first focused on recovering the production cost and once it is recovered we used to distribute digital copies for free to the people who could not afford spending 100.

Secondly, till date common people in Kolkata are not really that much interested about the independent efforts in film-medium (Well, basic reason behind this is the trash produced by rich kids and the idiotic school-goers who god knows why ever tried to make a film). Even those who are interested are not habituated to contribute to Independent films or filmmakers. This project looks forward to raise this habit. One rupee is nothing, it doesn't hurt. Most of the people use this very amount only to satisfy pushy beggars. The basic difference between us and the beggar is that we are providing them with a little piece of paper containing information regarding this project so that they can check back and verify or contribute more if they feel like. With the exchanged value of one rupee, the unique approach will surely help them remember the fact, we feel. It's not building houses in the air in the name of Independent filmmaking. Our fathers are not our producers and we still believe in the from-the-mass-to-the-mass structure.

I hope that's enough to clarify why the minimum amount is one rupee only. Now, why am I asking for more?

See, just like the ovum needs sperm to produce a new life, a film needs money to come to life. We believe that there are some friends of ours who like the way we are continuing against all odds. Some of them do receive a handsome paycheck at the end of every month. Among these friends there are some we know personally. They are film enthusiasts, fan of good literature, loves music too. It's a clear call to them, "Dear, it's the time for you to act. Maybe once you dreamt of making 'That Film' but then this job and all, and then you had to get married and now you raise a family... alright! No one is calling you to get out of your closet, but we are on the streets. Can you lend us your umbrella? We'd love to smell it and believe that you are still here with us."

For the next two days, me and Sriparna, we'll be available at JU (Jadavpur University) campus. You can come, meet, discuss with us about the film, contribute. For any assistance call me on 919883103809. When I get back from the city I'll start uploading the storyline little by little in the form of a novella. Can I expect you to just copy and paste that on your blog / web with some basic information about this project. That'll be of much help. Let us know.

Thanks

Monday, March 12, 2012

Just Another Post

We were at Jadavpur University on the 10th and 11th at the stall of Guruchandali Magazine in the Sanskriti, 2012 (a festival organized by the students of engineering dept). The collection is now INR 7,807.15 /- But I'm not really feeling like writing anything else tonight. I'm tired. Moreover, I expected some comments or responses on the last post. OK, so it's clear now, no one is going to come forward and say, "here, I can help". It's more like, "you are fighting for your own cause. So, you shall face all that on your own". But what did I really ask? -- I just wanted some friends who can copy from this blog and paste on his own with some basic information on this initiative when I start posting the the story-line in the form of a novella.

Anyway, depression is natural, and it's only temporary. I believe I'll be able to keep on posting like before because I've gone through worse phases and those days have only encouraged me more.

Thanks

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Trends

Depression is like cloud, you know what I mean if you are a sensitive man.

I came across another talented friend of mine today who seemed to be in a mood of a quarrel. These kinds of friends, see, I used to have a lot of them before. They will never do what they should have been doing. They would opt for a job at some office and curse the society for being so cruel. They'd curse their social and economic whereabouts for everything i.e the obstructions of becoming a popular artiste. But it's actually them who decided to sign the papers because they felt insecure at a point of time.

If you know what you are doing and who you are inside, is there a reason to get distracted like that, my friend? Lack of confidence and recognition can make feel a mediocre artiste that he is somebody like Rimbaud or Artaud, only if people could get it! Gosh!

What's there in recognition? If you are all for work why should you care at all? No matter what, just keep on working, use your brain and muscles and don't become jealous of anyone around.

Analyze, won't you?

Whatever, let's come to the point, if you are subscribed to the Facebook page you must have already come to know that the figure now stands at INR 12,908.15 /- but what you don't know yet is that the highest individual contribution is Rs. 2500. Let's see who's going to break it and donate 5k for the first time.

Our first identified donor from another country is Ginnetta Correlli, a filmmaker friend. Her generosity was soon found in another filmmaker friend named Jason Marsh. We are thankful to them, we think their contributions would motivate others in other parts of the world too.

Be it Re.1 or Rs.1006 people are contributing for real. It's not one month yet since we started at BYOFF on the 25th of February and we're almost at 13k already. May we call it overwhelming, the response? Now we have a reason to be confident and announce, Yes, We'll Start Shooting this April. Now, whichever comes first, 20k or the first shoot, We'll start posting the story-line in the form of a novella, post by post, serially. Friends, asking again, do you have a blog where you can share the novella with some basic information on this project to help raise funds more effectively? --- We think we'll have MAM (Mad About Moviez) beside us. Are you too MAD, about MOVIEZ? Join hands, let's make it happen for the sake of the pure madness

Thanks to The Bengal Post for covering us in their article on Indie films of Bengal

Click on the image to read the article

Or

Read The Underplayed on Postscript Official Blog

Resolutions : Taken on 18th March

The annual meeting that was announced earlier on this blog has taken place on the scheduled date and time. Members present at the meeting are Arupratan, Anamitra, Sriparna, Sumit, Snigdhendu and Pratik. Others who couldn't come due to certainly arouse conditions but kept in touch with us are Souva, Abhishek, Mainak and Dhriti. On the basis of all its members' consent, the LBEBF has taken the following resolutions in the meeting.

Resolutions:
1. The members have decided to submit a minimum subscription of Rs.50/- per month to keep the LFEBF running. The fund raised by this monthly subscription is to be spent on keeping all the promotional activities alive throughout the year.

2. The yet unsold 30 copies are the last copies of the '5 No Budget Films, 2010'- packaged edition. After these, the packaged edition will no longer be available. Only the pouch edition will be there to buy.

3. Our next project is to release 8-10 no-budget short films (duration 10 minutes each) in one DVD on the 1st day (Which shall be the 11th January) of Kolkata Little Magazine Fair, 2011. All the members are hereby informed that the last date for submission of rush is 15th December, 2010. Some of the directors have alredy announced their date of completion -------

Arupratan Ghosh - Spring Tale - 31st May
Sriparna Dey - Two or Three Things .... About Visuals - 30th June
Anamitra Roy - Secret Footage - 31st August
Snigdhendu Bhattacharya - (Not Announced Yet) - 30th September
Souva Chattopadhyay - (Not Announced Yet) - 15th December
Pratik Mondal - (Not Announced Yet) - 15th December

But before all these a long awaited film is going to release in the month of July. The film that brought Anamitra, Sriparna, Snigdhendu, Pratik together with Sumit and Abhishek.

Subimal Misra is Dead

(aka) Subimal Misra: Shot @ Underground

(aka) Asole Eti Subimal Misrer Biggyapon Hoe Uthte Parto

A short film on the maverick and audacious experimentalist anti-establishment Bengali author Subimal Misra. An LFEBF presentation in association with Byas (Bengali Little Magazine), Abosardanga (Bengali Little Magazine), www.kalojournal.com and of course Open Secret.

We guess a little surprise is waiting for the readers in the next post of this blog. Keep visiting. Good bye. Best regards from the house of LFEBF

Tell Iran to Free Jafar Panahi Immediately : Sign the Petition

S.O.S

IT'S AN EMERGENCY...

On March 2nd it was reported that the director of THE WHITE BALLOON had been imprisoned by the Government of Iran. He is still being detained. We've just been informed by the 'Hope For Film' network through an e-mail that a petition, to be sent to the authorities in Iran, is calling for signatures. The petition states ---

"To: The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran

We call on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the immediate release of internationally respected Iranian Filmmaker Jafar Pahani, (winner of the Camera d' Or at Cannes, the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival ) and his family and dependents.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned"

On the 1st of March, Panahi was arrested from his home along with his wife Tahere Saidi, daughter Solmaz Panahi and 14 of his friends by plainclothes officers and taken to theEvin Prison.^[8] Most were released 48 hours later, but Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof remain in ward 209, and Mehdi Pourmoussa in another ward inside Evin Prison.^[9] Worst of all is that Panahi's arrest has been confirmed by the government, but charges have not been specified yet. Probably, they have arrested him again for his "anti-islamic" activities.

Abbas Kiarostami published an open letter in a Tehran newspaper to protest the incident. --------

"I don’t quite know to whom I am addressing this letter, but I do know why I’m writing it and I believe that under the circumstances it is both critical and inevitable because two Iranian filmmakers, both of whom are vital to the Iranian wave of independent cinema, have been incarcerated.

As a filmmaker of the same independent cinema, it has been years since I lost hope of ever screening my films in my country. By making my own low-budget and personal films, it has also been years since I lost all hope of receiving any kind of aid or assistance from the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic culture, the custodian of Iranian cinema.

In order to make a living, I have turned to photography and use that income to make short and low-budget films. I don’t even object to their illegal reproduction and distribution because that is my only means of communicating with my own people. For years now I have not even objected to this lack of attention from the ministry and cinema tic authorities .

Even if we choose to disregard the fact that for years now, the cinematic administrators of the country, who constitute the main cultural body of the government, have differentiated between their own filmmakers (insiders) and independent filmmakers (outsiders), I am still of the opinion that they are oblivious of Iranian independent cinema. Filmmaking is not a crime. It is our sole means of making a living and thus not a choice, but a vital necessity.

I have found my own solutions to the problem. Independent of the conventional and customary support granted to the cinematic community at large, I make my own short and independent films with hopes of gaining some credit for the people I love and a name for the country I come from. Sometimes the necessity to work calls for the making of films beyond the borders of my country, which is ultimately not out of personal choice or taste.

However, others, like Jafar Panahi, have for years tried to summon official government support, exploring the same frustrating path, only to be confronted with the same closed doors. He too has for years held hopes of obtaining public screenings for his films and receiving official aid and assistance from the relevant governmental bodies. He still believes that based on the merits of his films and the acclaim they have brought the country, he can seek legal solutions to the problem. The Ministry of Guidance and Islamic culture is directly responsible for what is happening to Jafar Panahi and his like. Any wrongdoing on his part, if there is any at all, is a direct result of the mismanagement of officials at the cinematic department of the Ministry of Guidance and it’s inadequate policies which in no way leave any choice for the filmmaker other than to resort to means that jeopardize his situation as a filmmaker. He too makes a living through cinema.

For him too, filmmaking is a vital necessity. He needs to make himself heard and has the right to expect cinematic officials to facilitate the process, rather than become the major obstacles themselves. Perhaps the officials at the ministry can not at present be of help in solving Jafar Panahi’s dilemma, but they need to know that they are and have been responsible all these years, for the dreadful consequences and unpleasant and anti-cultural reflections of such policies in the world media.

I may not be an advocate of Jafar Panahi’s radical and sensational methods but I do know that the cause for his plight is not a result of choice but an inevitable [compulsion].

He is paying for the conduct of officials who have for years closed all doors on him, leaving open small passages and dead end paths.

Jafar Panahi’s problem will eventually be solved but there are numerous young people who have chosen the art of cinema as their means of expression and careers.

This is where the duty of the government and the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture, as the government’s main cultural body, becomes even more critical, for they face a large group of Iranian youth who aim to work independently and away from complicated official procedures and existing prejudices.

Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof are two filmmakers of the Iranian independent cinema, a cinema that for the past quarter of a century has served as an essential cultural element in expanding the name of this country across the globe. They belong to an expanded world culture, and are a part of international cinematic culture. I wish for their immediate release from prison knowing that the impossible is possible. My heartfelt wish is that artists no longer be imprisoned in this country because of their art and that the independent and young Iranian cinema no longer faces obstacles, lack of support, attention and prejudice.

This is your responsibility and the ultimate definition of your existence."

Abbas Kiarostami / 1388.12.18 [March 9, 2010] / Tehran

According to The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a source close to Panahi said: “Over the past years, Ministry of Intelligence authorities have summoned Jafar Panahi to different investigation offices of the Ministry in different locations and have questioned him. In one of these meetings he was told, ‘Just because you are a famous filmmaker, you mustn’t think that we are unable to arrest you. We can arrest you whenever we decide."

We protest this nasty politics of the Iranian government. If you are with Panahi please sign this petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/FJP2310/petition.html

Make your voice heard. It can make a difference.