Satyajit Ray inspires BAFTA-IIFA Workshop attendees

As a part of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend, a workshop was organised at the National Media Museum in Bradford Friday, which focussed on the legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

The event, organised jointly by IIFA and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), focussed on the finer nuances of Indian cinema and was chaired by well-known director Deepa Mehta, celebrated Indian filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh and Cary Sawhney, a leading British Asian film curator.

Suman Ghosh, who had done her doctorate on Ray, also attended.

Ray, who made his directorial debut in 1955 with the cult "Pather Panchali", has made some of the most memorable movies Indian cinema has produced. He is the only Indian filmmaker to have received an Honorary Oscar. Critics dubbed his death in 1992 as the end of an era for the Indian film industry.

"To call Satyajit Ray a cinematic genius is an understatement," Rituparno Ghosh said. "He was a visionary who had the power to make pictures come alive. His films are not only inspirational but also technically superior."

"To allow young filmmakers of this generation an opportunity to experience the rich legacy that Satyajit Ray has left behind is a fabulous initiative IIFA has undertaken. I hope they continue profiling the works of such cinema greats each year."

Ray's critically acclaimed film "Mahanagar", which had won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1964, was also screened at the end the workshop and was appreciated widely by the attendees.

"Even though filmmaking has evolved greatly over the years, the basics have not changed and that is precisely what Satyajit Ray used creatively in his films. He created brilliance out of basics," Mehta, whose film "Water" was shortlisted for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category, said.

The BAFTA-IIFA workshop provided opportunities to filmmakers and students to interact with the icons of the film industry and also enabled them to discuss international cinema.

"For me as a filmmaker, the BAFTA-IIFA Film Workshop was not just a platform to explain my art but also to learn a lot more from others present there," Mehta said.