PUNE: “Earlier film-making was not easy as we had to spend about Rs. 13,000 on a 4-minute film roll and the entire process was expensive. However, digitization has brought lots of changes and has made filmmaking more democratic and easy. Cinematography is no longer restricted to only rich filmmakers as youth from rural areas are also getting into it wholeheartedly,” said award-winning filmmaker, Sunil Suthankar during the closing ceremony of the 10th Aarogya Film Festival held at the National Film Archive of India.
The two-day festival organized by the Pune- based P. M. Shah Foundation featured 49 international and national documentaries on health issues. Adv. Chetan Gandhi was present during the event.
“The artists who want to explore and do something different in filmmaking through digitization should not consider themselves inferior and should continue making good films,” said Suthankar.
Adv. Chetan Gandhi said, “We wanted to create a platform for young filmmakers who wanted to present their films on health issues and create awareness. These films show what they think and say about health.”
About 49 documentaries and short films were felicitated during the ceremony out of which 3 short films and 3 documentary films were declared winners.
In the best Short Film category, the film Aarsa: The Status directed by Ganesh Modak stood first while ‘Lal’ directed by Sumeet Patil, and ‘Bra’ directed by Sonal Rathod stood second and third respectively.
In the best Documentary film category, the film Rebirth directed by Dinesh Vasantrao Akhade won the first prize while films ‘For Her’ directed by Dr. Shekhar Kulkarni, and ‘Autism: Moving Ahead directed by Pradeep Kumar Agnihotri stood second and third respectively.
The PM Shah Foundation and Flare Network Systems jointly undertake activities to create awareness in city schools about health, hygiene, and sanitation. The schools that performed well in this initiative were felicitated on the occasion including P.C.M.C School Kalwadi Boys, P.C.M.C School Kalwadi Girls, and Yashwantrao Chavan primary boys School Thergao, Yashwantrao Chavan Primary Girls School Thergao, Little Flowers English Medium School Hadapsar and Dr. Dada Gujar School Hadapsar.
The program was moderated by Monica Joshi.
