India is a land of story tellers; Indian filmmakers must focus on telling intensely personal stories: John Bailey

With a vision to explore possibilities of collaboration, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting today organized a Special Interactive Session with Mr. John Bailey, President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at Siri Fort, New Delhi. The session was followed by an interaction of Mr. Bailey with the press.

In the Session Mr. John Bailey talked about the need to increase the membership of Indians in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He highlighted the initiative of the Academy to double the diversity of membership in the Academy and added that India truly represents the opportunities, challenges and the unifying power of diversity. Through the interaction, budding filmmakers and students from several Mass Media Institutes got the opportunity to not only interact with Mr. John Bailey – the Academy President, but also with Mr. John Bailey – the master cinematographer. The interaction threw light not only on the nuances behind the craft of cutting edge filming techniques but also helped develop an understanding about creating world class content. Mr. Bailey also talked about the influence of women cinematographers on him. Hailing India as a land of story-tellers, he highlighted the need for filmmakers to tell intensely personal stories. He also appreciated the enthusiasm and willingness shown by India towards deeper collaborations with the Academy.

Amit Khare, Secretary, I&B talked about the abundance of talent across India and the spurt in films being made in regional languages. He highlighted the incentives offered to budding filmmakers by different states and expressed hope that the association with Mr. Bailey and the Academy will help showcase the craft of Indian filmmakers all over the world.

Justice Mahmohan Sarin, Chairperson, Film Certification and Appellate Tribunal, highlighted the achievements of Mr. John Bailey as a Cinematographer par excellence.

Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, CBFC talked about how Cinema is a part and parcel of everyday life in India; with even life philosophies being derived from Cinema. He highlighted the current trend of ‘Cinema Loktantra’ – the democratization of cinema in India through technology and increased outreach. He also talked about the importance of emotions and songs in Indian cinema, which is different from the kind of cinema known to the Western world, and the need of prior sensitization for audiences in the West to appreciate Indian Cinema. He also talked about the importance of collective viewing of Cinema and the significance of Festivals like International Film Festival of India.

In a special event today, John Bailey, President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (popularly known as Oscar Academy), e-launched the Hindi translation of an Academy Publication, “Digital Dilemma”, in Delhi. Also present on the occasion were renowned film editor and Governor of Academy Ms. Carol Littleton; Justice Manmohan Sarin, Chairman, FCAT; Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of I&B; Shri Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, CBFC;  Ujwal Nirgudkar, Member of the Academy and  Prakash Magdum, Director, NFAI.

During his speech, John Bailey said that the translation of the Academy publication into Hindi is important in order to reach out to film fraternity in India. There are many challenges thrown by the technological changes in the film storage medium and this book will help film makers in understanding and planning the storage of born-digital material, he said.

Written by Milt Shelton and Andy Maltz, this publication has been translated in many languages the world over. National Film Archive of India, the premier organization of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which is involved in film conservation, preservation and restoration, had signed an MoU with the Academy to translate the publication into Hindi so that it can benefit various stakeholders in the country.

The Academy works towards the goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures.

In its landmark report, the Academy’s Science and Technology Council examined ways in which key players in the movie business currently store and access important digital data. Through years of research, the Council discovered that issues of digital storage reliability go far beyond lost snapshots and spreadsheets. The publication discusses the challenges of efficiently archiving and accessing the massive data in the long term.