Hi Sunny!

A request--could you please put this out on ISC list?

Chandita
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Dear Friend

Coming your way is a unique selection of films-"In Focus: the films of K K
Mahajan".

Presented by GRAFTII, the association of FTII graduates in association with
the National Film Archive of India or NFAI, this two-day fest will be hosted
by Fun Republic, Mumbai on the 14th and 15th of October, 2005.

Chosen by K K out of his eighty four feature films and dozens of
documentaries, TV serials and advertising films, this treat spans work
across four decades. A rare occasion, when a cinematographer is honoured by
his peers in a special series of shows with good quality prints and
projection.

October 14th 2005

1. BHUVAN SHOME 1969, director Mrinal Sen,96 min,11:30 am.

2. BAMBOO FLUTE 2001, 56 min, 1:30 pm and KHAYAL GATHA, 1988, 103 min,
2:45pm

both directed by Kumar Shahani.

3. SWAMI, 1977, director Basu Chatterji, 129 min, 5:00pm.

4. KHANDAR, 1984, director Mrinal Sen, 108 min, 7:35 pm.

October 15th 2005

1. USKI ROTI, 1969, director Mani Kaul, 96 min,11:30 am.

2. EKTI NADIR NAAM, 2001, director Anup Singh, 95 min, 1:00 pm.

3. AKALER SANDHANAY, 1980, director Mrinal Sen, 110 min,3:00 pm.

4. TARANG, 1984, director Kumar Shahani, 171 min,5:15 pm.

So those who are in Mumbai, block the 14th and 15th of October on your
calendar and forward this all your friends who may like to come for the
fest. The Festival Cards (proceeds go to charity) are 50 rupees for a single
screening, but 120 rupees for a day card, valid for all four shows on that
day.



Please make enquiries for the festival cards at the box office. The numbers
are 26732078 / 26734343 and 56755700. Here are some thoughts from KK about
camerawork, his personal evolution and this festival .
See you there!

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A Note from KK Mahajan

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At the outset, I would like to briefly put forth my viewpoint on the role of
the cinematographer in film making. A cinematographer is a person who,
through both intuition and technique, works with light to create
photographic images of breath-taking vitality and beauty, setting the
atmosphere of the film. He / she should do so, after analytically studying
each film and understanding its sociological, historical and artistic
parameters. The aim that is always uppermost on one's mind is the creation
of original, outstanding work in the craft of motion-picture photography.

Recognition for cinematographers has been growing internationally, year
after year. Closer home, the fact however is, that only occasionally, do
they get the opportunity to leave the world of lights, shadows and anonymity
to which they are confined, emerging just to receive an award or two, and
disappearing once more into darkness (of course, their own "shining
darkness"); for the rest of their lives, they silently continue their work,
producing other masterpieces with refined cinematographic skill and deeply
cultivated artistic sense.

(Incidentally, that mention of "darkness" reminds me......; it is said that
the cinematographer can see in the dark....; the remarkable thing lies in
the way he / she enables audiences to do the same, and even understand the
nature of the almost violent contrast between black and white).

Looking back at my body of work, since "Bhuvan Shome" (1969), I would say
that if I had to do it all over again,.. now..., perhaps, I would do it,
altogether differently.

When I started working, there was just one kind of colour raw stock...quite
slow..., which was used for both indoors and outdoors. Now, you have eight
different kinds of raw stocks, for indoors and for outdoors; different
stocks are available according to the requirements of different
situations.....fast lenses, more sophisticated lights, a whole array of
gadgets.....and now, everything is going digital....

For a cinematographer true to his / her calling, the aesthetic values
remain the same. And I have held on to these values, all through these
years, even as I worked almost simultaneously on both low-budget / off-beat
cinema as well as the larger- than - life mainstream cinema.

Essentially, it is believed that cinema is a director's medium. But it is
the cinematographer who understands that medium and its elaborate form of
expression and how it is realised on film.


I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to express myself as
a cinematographer.

In conclusion I wish to thank all of you who have made "In Focus",
happen.... I believe that this is the first time that a significant part of
a cinematographer's body of work, is being shown, in focus....My heart-felt
thanks to Fun Republic , my fellow alumni at GRAFTII and to the National
Film Archive of India, who have made this possible.

KK Mahajan