Rima Das’ Village Rockstars has been selected as India’s official entry to Oscars 2019
The Film Federation of India (FFI), on Saturday, announced Rima Das’ film, Village Rockstars, as the offical contender for Oscars 2019 in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
The film was selected by FFI’s jury led by SV Rajendra Singh Babu, a Bangalore based film producer, and included Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Mrinal Kulkarni, Anant Mahadevan, Vinod Ganatra among seven other members.
After the announcement, during the media interaction, the chairman shed some light on why Indian films might not perform well at the Oscars. He suggested that the films we send for Oscars need to be promoted well on the Oscar platform, and for that the state should create a fund.
He said, “Many Indian films reach there but because of their rules and perspectives, our films are not be eligible. The film which is selected from here should be properly presented at the Oscars, and that needs huge money. When a film goes there, we need at least two crore rupees to promote the film there, to present it to the academy members. There are many processes, and we may be failing there. There is an acute lack of funds to carry out these processes effectively. Last time Maharashtra government gave one crore to Shwaas (the 2004 Marathi film). This time also we at the Film Federation of India want to write to the Assam government and the central government to contribute or create funds for the film.”
“It is impossible for independent and small producers to promote their film all by themselves. It is important that they receive funds to do so. It is important we follow these processes to reach all the academy members and critics. Somebody has to be in New York for at least two months to follow up for the film, catching hold of critics and the press, international producers. All these things cost money,” he added.
About the selection of the film, Babu said, “We think Village Rockstars has a very bright chance, and we think the government of India and the state government of Assam should help the film It is not a request, it is the film’s right. The government should be responsible and should come forward to help us.”
Anant Mahadevan who was also a part of the jury too spoke about why Village Rockstars makes the best choice for Oscars this year. He said, “One of the criteria is that the film has to be rooted in India with a universal message. The film has to be professionally and technically well made with hardly any flaws and a well-performed film. Village Rockstars got votes of all the jury members unanimously. We are very proud of this film.”
About promoting the film at the Oscar platform, Mahadevan suggested that while state’s contribution is important, the film fraternity can also start taking the responsibility. He said, “I think the process is easy; if most of the big production houses contribute at least ten lakh rupees each, even if they contribute five lakh rupees, we can collect an amount of three crore rupees to promote the film at the Oscars. If we really believe in the film Village Rockstars as the representative of our country, we should all garner funds to support the film.”
Citing an example of government support in other countries Mahadevan added, “In other countries, they make very few films and the government takes it upon them to promote those films. The government owns the film industry unlike here. Their government recommends the best film to represent on the big platform. Unfortunately, our government disowned the film industry.”