|
|
|
Berlinale 2013 is going great guns, Indian documentaries pull crowds
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 4:01:08 PM (IST)
|
Rajesh Kumar Singh, Bollywood Trade Editorial
In spite of biting cold and snowfall at regular intervals, the attendance at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) and the European Film Market (EFM) is up. More than 250,000 tickets have been sold. The Berlinale 2013 officials can rightfully claim to be a roaring success, considering that the festival has merely reached its midpoint. Most of the screenings in various sections of the festival´s programme have been sold out including the late night shows.
Though the competition line up this year has not really enthused many, some of the films in the other sections have generated quite a buzz including the two Indian documentaries. MODDHIKHANE CHAR - THE NO MAN´S LAND by Sourav Sarangi is about a natural Island that gets created due to soil erosion at Indo-Bangla border and how the people here eke out their living by smuggling rice and other contraband. The screening of the film had a full house and the audience enthusiastically applauded the film and its maker. The other film POWERLESS also saw a full house though it had a late night screening at 9.30 PM. The film is jointly directed by Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar and is the story of Loha Singh – a latter-day Robin Hood – who ensures power supply to the poorer families by stealing power from power cables and the kind of menace he has become for the power companies.
The Festival Director Dieter Kosslick is quite pleased with the success of the festival and says,”This year’s Berlinale is proving to be a big crowd-puller again. The visitors’ enthusiasm for film is truly impressive. Audiences are curious to experience the different forms of cinema offered here at the Festival.”
The European Film Market (EFM) has also done well in terms of absolute numbers. Interest on the part of exhibitors has increased in 2013. At 890, the number of films represented is also higher this year than last year. At both venues, the Martin-Gropius-Bau and the Marriott Hotel at Potsdamer Platz, there is a steady stream of interested visitors.
(Rajesh Kumar Singh is Editorial Consultant for Festivals and Markets for BollywoodTrade.com. He is a filmmaker, critic and market analyst)
Related Articles :
- EFM 2012 at Berlin has a record-breaking year
- Berlinale begins: King Khan shines in absentia
Tags : Berlin International Film Festival, MODDHIKHANE CHAR - THE NO MAN´S LAND, Sourav Sarangi, Loha Singh, POWERLESS
|
More Film Festivals & Markets
|
|
|
|
|
Sections
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|