Diploma films of FTII's alumni to be screened for public

The city-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has decided to screen the diploma films made by its former students for the public.

The alumni of the prestigious institute include several noted actors, filmmakers, cinematographers, editors and technical staff of the film industry.

"The first batch of FTII started in the 1960s, so we have diploma films of our past students since its inception," the institute's director, Bhupendra Kainthola, said yesterday.

"These diploma films, made by the students as a part of their final year project work, generally do not see the light of day. So we decided to screen them for the public at our premises once in a week as all these diploma films are like a gold mine," he said.
 

The public screening of the films is slated to begin on August 5. The inaugural event will be attended FTII alumnus and veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha who, as the student of FTII, acted in his diploma film, titled "Angry Young Man", Kainthola said.

Sinha's diploma film would also be screened on the occasion, he said.

"People have been watching Sinha on screen after he became an actor. But, it would be a treat for them to see their favourite actor in a film in which he acted when he was a student," he said.

Likewise, the diploma films of several celebrities and artistes, who once learnt the tricks of the trade at the institute during their student life, will be screened for the common people who can just walk in and watch these films for free, the director said.

Kainthola said there are over 500 diploma films of the former students lying at the FTII and the process to restore them is underway.

Gajendra Chauhan, the former chairman of FTII, said it is a good initiative as people will get to see the works of their favourite artistes when they were students.

A proposal to screen all these diploma films on Doordarshan is pending with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, he said.