TO BE RESCHEDULED
1st Participant and Mentor: KAMAL SWAROOP
APPLY HERE IF INTERSETED
WHAT IS COLLAB:
Collab is a co-creative, collaborative space – for aspiring and emerging filmmakers to come together and to pitch their upcoming projects or ideas for collaboration. The Collab will facilitate a conferential and a social framework – for ideators to connect with collaborators, and in the process assess the potential of their ideas, develop their designs and map a way forward.
COLLAB RESIDENCY in AUROVILLE:
Auroville Film Institute invites ideators, designers, directors, writers, editors, cinematographers, audiographers, actors, composers, critics, festival programmers, producers, distributors and creative entrepreneurs of all kinds…
An experimental township founded on the principles of integral education, free progress and human unity, having residents from 59 nationalities… Auroville, like a forest in a city and a city in a forest – will be the mesmerizing ground for the COLLAB Residency.
Pioneer of Indian Avant Garde cinema, experimental maverick – Kamal Swaroop, will be the 1st Participant of the Collab Residency and a Mentor for others participating with their ideas.
An idea… before it becomes pitch-ready, has its organic life of wonder. Before the external compulsions to fit into the formulaic grids of presentation, production and distribution, the idea is subject to the internal dynamic of imagination. It is in this uninhibited, imaginative space, COLLAB Residency will nurture ideas and call for collaborations. Here, Kamal Swaroop will engage with the cinematics of each idea, tracing its genesis within oneself, one’s immediate environs and in the history of cinema.
Participants can join with their projects under production, or even initial concepts and seed ideas. Those with an intent to collaborate on others’ ideas may also join. The attempt is to form a round of ideators and collaborators. Challenge, critique, constructively discuss, find affinities and pledge one’s skills, resources, services or any leads possible. In the Collab Residency, ideators will be encouraged to develop a ‘Pitch’. A ‘Pitch for Collaboration’!
PITCH FOR COLLABORATION:
Pitch for Collaboration is a 3-day conference to celebrate the spirit of collaboration. It is the culmination of the 15 days of COLLAB Residency. ‘Pitch for Collaboration’ is anchored in the faith that there is an inherent value in each of us. We can identify and optimise this value and pledge it for project development. Funds are subsequent considerations, not pre-determinants. Pre-determining factors are in-depth cinematics, hand-holding co-creatives and friends we can make to make films together. The conference will have 2 components:
Round-Table Pitching Sessions : wherein participants will pitch their project ideas, calling for collaboration. Ideators who have developed their project idea during the Collab Residency will Pitch. Additionally, others who haven’t been a part of the Residency but have a project to pitch are also welcome. All those who are willing to collaborate in any capacity possible, as main crew or associates or assistants or give any possible inputs, leads, help with networking, marketing etc. are welcome to participate as potential collaborators. Curious investors, programmers, producers, distributors and creative entrepreneurs are welcome to the round-table.
Spirit of Collaboration Film Festival : which will be a special curation of: (i) Films on Auroville – highlighting the collaborative spirit of Auroville; (ii) Films made by Ex-Participants of Auroville Film Institute; (iii) Early Career and Student films made in a collaborative spirit; (iv) Retrospective of Kamal Swaroop.
PITCH FOR COLLABORATION PUBLICATION:
Auroville Film Institute will print an e-publication called ‘Pitch for Collaboration’ wherein all participants’ profiles, projects pitched, collaborations pledged and keynote speeches will be published.
ITINERARY:
25 Dec : Introductions and Christmas Socials
26 – 27 Dec : Sharing – Ideas and Works in Progress
28 – 31 Dec : Cinematics In-depth – Watch, Read and Analyse
2 – 4 Jan : Pitch Preparation
5 – 8 Jan : Pitch for Collaboration Conference / Festival
APPLICANTS MAY APPLY AS:
(i) Ideators – who have an idea to develop into a pitch OR
(ii) Collaborators – who would like to collaborate with other ideators offering skills, resources or any other leads OR
(iii) Ready to Pitch – who would like not to attend the entire residency but only the 4 days of Pitch for Collaboration Conference & Festival (5 – 8 Jan)
CONTRIBUTION:
For Collab Residency including Pitch for Collaboration (25 Dec to 8 Jan)
INR 11000 : For Ex-Participants of AVFI who have successfully completed a production.
INR 13000 : For Ex-Participants of AVFI who haven’t undertaken or completed production.
INR 14000 : For Indian Nationals
USD 400 : For Foreign Nationals
(3 Gala Meals included in the fees)
For Pitching Conference & Spirit of Collaboration Festival (5 – 8 Jan)
INR 3000 : For Ready to Pitch Applicant
1 Gala Dinner included in the fees.
(The fee excludes accommodation, mobility and regular meals)
Voluntary Contribution for Aurovilians and Newcomers.
SELECTION:
Selection will be based on the strength of application. Selected applicants will be notified within 3 days of receiving applications. Payments are expected within 3 days of selection notification. Participation will be confirmed only after the verification of payment.
CERTIFICATION:
E – Certificate of Participation will be issued by Auroville Film Institute.
ACCOMMODATION, MEALS & MOBILITY:
Outstation participants may book accommodation on their own based on their budget and preferences. We shall be able recommend suitable accommodation and facilitate booking, however actual booking and related payment, the participant is expected to do directly with the guest house. Considering proximity to the venue and basic budget, we recommend Mitra Youth hostel @ INR 350/day for bed in a twin sharing room with breakfast. OR Joy Community Guesthouse starting from INR 240/day for huts and dormitories. Limited bookings. However, there are many other options to be explored within Auroville and periphery. Check https://guesthouses.auroville.org/
Most guest houses in Auroville offer breakfast. For lunch, dinner and snacks there are several options too with a range of cuisines and budgets. For those who would like, we can facilitate budget lunch and dinner subscriptions on arrival.
For mobility, we recommend renting bicycles/ mopeds/ 2-wheelers for commuting within Auroville. The Guesthouse may facilitate booking of 2-wheelers. Standard Rentals are anywhere between Rs. 40 to 200/ day. We can facilitate renting a 2-wheeler on prior notice.
PROFILE : KAMAL SWAROOP (1st Participant and Mentor)
“I don’t believe in sense, but nonsense” These words spoken by filmmaker Kamal Swaroop in an interview are an indication of the unconventional, impossible to label nature of this artist. As a journalist once described him, “His ideas are unassumingly bold, preposterously original and tend to cut against the grain almost by design.”
Swaroop is a two-time President’s award and Filmfare Award winning film, television and radio director and screenwriter. In 1974 he graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and even his student works met with unusual international acclaim. He continued with postgraduate studies at the Institute. In 1982, he assisted Sir Richard Attenborough in the filming of Gandhi. Om-Dar-B-Dar (1988) is his path breaking masterpiece. Swaroop’s career, spanning 42 years, covers a broad range of films, channel promos for Channel V India, ads and Radio Spots.
RICHA HUSHING & RRIVU LAHA (Organizers)
Richa Hushing & Rrivu Laha are documentary filmmakers, both alumni of Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Richa specialized in TV Direction (2005) while Rrivu’s specialization was Cinematography (2007). Their films are often character portraits; and portraits of indigenous communities in liminal states. ‘Nicobar, a long way…’ a documentary observing Nicobarese identity and resilience in wake of Tsunami – is one of their latest works, winning accolades internationally in anthropological and environmental film festivals. After a decade-long practice based in Mumbai, in 2017 Richa and Rrivu moved to Auroville, an international cultural township, in the south of India. In Auroville, Richa and Rrivu co-founded the ‘Auroville Film Institute’ dedicated to the ideal of cinema education, integrating world cinema and world citizenship, experimenting with a new pedagogy. Richa and Rrivu work as co-directors and curriculum designers – offering short term filmmaking courses and production oriented Masterclasses.
QUERIES:
For queries, if any, please write to: support_filminstitute@auroville.org.in or call / message on +91 9969879319.
filminstitute.auroville.org 