Film Appreciation course concludes at PU

Chandigarh, February 10, 2019: The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, collaboration for a film appreciation course hosted by the Department of English and Cultural Studies, PU concluded, here today with a Valedictory function in which certificate of participation were distributed to over 75 participants from eight states of the country. Prof Deepti Gupta, Chairperson of the department, who had initiated this collaboration declared it a successful attempt on part of the department to engage with other institutions for teaching and learning. Dr SurbhiGoel shared her views as to how education and instruction of subjects like Cinema and Audio-visual were more about curating the optimal content and creating insightful conversation and discussion rather than an informational flow alone. The participants were exposed to cinematic history, cinematic elements of appreciation and important films drawn from world Cinema. Instructors of the course, ShriPankajSaxena and ShriMunishBhardwaj also screened films which they have participated in the making of to elicit discussions and responses. Ms.Vijaya Singh’s films UNSCHEDULED ARRIVALS was also screened followed by a Q and A session with her. The course drew enthusiasm from the participants and it was an attempt to turn them from being a mere spectator to rasik of cinema. Technical session on the fifth and the final day of the course began with a discussion of the film Pyaasa which had been screened the previous day. The discussion was presided over by Mr.MunishBharadwaj and included observations on the form of the film, the music and lyrics of songs. This was followed by a script writing session conducted by Mr.Bharadwaj. The session gave participants an insight into what goes into writing a script for a film. Different scripts required for various films were discussed. Additionally, the structure of the conventional script and the job of a script writer were debated. The session also included stages of script writing and character development. Issues discussed in the script writing session were further elucidated through the screening of Moh Maya Money (2016), a film directed by Mr.Bhardwaj. The screening was followed by a question-answer session wherein Mr.Bhardwaj answered queries of participants pertaining to their observations of the film. Thus, the course came to an end. The valedictory session began with an introduction by Junior Research Fellow, Shubham. Mr.Saxena and Mr.Bhardwaj were invited on the stage to share their experiences and observations about this course. This was followed by Dr.SurbhiGoel outlining the benefits of the coming together of art practitioners and critics in her speech. Participation certificates were distributed by Prof. Deepti Gupta, Prof. Akshaya Kumar, Mr.Bharadwaj, and Mr.Saxena. Then, two documentaries made by participants of the course were screened. The first was shot by GaganpreetWalia and her team of two and lasted for seven minutes. The second one titled University Appreciation Course lasted two minutes and was made by Puneet Raj Singh. After this, another documentary by the department of Communication Studies depicting Panjab University was shown. The facilitators were then presented with a token of appreciation. The participants and dignitaries then broke for a delicious lunch.