Kolkata People's Film Festival

23 - 26 Jan, 2021

Kolkata People's Film Festival logo
Kolkata People's Film Festival

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About the festival

The Kolkata People’s Film Festival (KPFF), organised by the People’s Film Collective, started in January 2014. Over the past 8 years, it has grown by leaps and bounds, becoming a critical part of the counter-culture movement in the city of Kolkata and beyond.

The festival, held over four days, does not charge for entry, either for entering a film or for watching a film. Everyone is welcome to attend. The KPFF is a non-sponsored event which does not accept any governmental or corporate sponsorships. It runs solely on grassroots community support and donations made by individual supporters.

KPFF is primarily a documentary festival acting as a platform for the contemporary political documentary from India. The festival also screens a number of documentaries from the Southasian region as well as fiction films from India and Southasia, which in their aesthetics and content speak to our political present.

Programming is the soul of KPFF. The festival is programmed with care by a selection committee, keeping in mind cinematic aspects, political arguments as well as the topicality, social relevance and geographical representation of the films. The goal of the festival is to encourage debate and discussion around questions ‘here and now’ that are sometimes forgotten, or swept under the rug. Or even worse, tip-toed around. We specifically look out for films which offer powerful perspectives on communalism, labour, caste and prejudice, civil rights, gender, self-determination, environmental issues, nationalism et cetera. The list is far from exhaustive. We welcome films which seek out new cinematic languages in trying to engage honestly with issues of great concern.

KPFF has one of the liveliest and most energetic audiences for independent political cinema in the country. With many film shows going houseful, films are always interspersed with talks, discussions and animated interactive sessions based on perspectives raised by the screenings. Filmmakers are invited to share their experiences and thoughts as they face the audience. The audience is an integral part of the whole process, with a free give and take of opinions. The festival is never restricted to within the hall. The festival premise, located in a busy central area of Kolkata, is often the hub of many a discussion. In true Kolkata spirit, filmmakers, artists, activists, students, film enthusiasts and people from all walks of life bond with each other, sharing their thoughts, ideologies, plans and feelings, often over endless cups of tea and animated arguments.

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About the Organisers:

People's Film Collective (PFC) is an independent, autonomous, people-funded cultural-political collective based in West Bengal. Formed in 2013, it believes in the power of films as a weapon of pedagogy of the oppressed as well as alternative media for people. PFC organises monthly documentary screenings and conversations in Kolkata. It travels throughout Bengal with films & movement videos. Its members document people’s movements, make political documentaries and organise film workshops. PFC organises the ‘Kolkata People’s Film Festival’ in January, the 'Frames of Freedom' in August, and travelling documentary festivals around the year. The Collective has a campaign called 'Little Cinema' for screening and discussing thought-provoking films for children and young adults. PFC brings out a Bangla journal titled ‘Protirodher Cinema’ (translated as Films of Resistance), focussing on the documentary, political cinema and counterculture. The Collective often works together with like-minded collectives of the working class and people’s movements.

About

The Kolkata People’s Film Festival (KPFF), organised by the People’s Film Collective, started in January 2014. Over the past 8 years, it has grown by leaps and bounds, becoming a critical part of the counter-culture movement in the city of Kolkata and beyond.

The festival, held over four days, does not charge for entry, either for entering a film or for watching a film. Everyone is welcome to attend. The KPFF is a non-sponsored event which does not accept any governmental or corporate sponsorships. It runs solely on grassroots community support and donations made by individual supporters.

KPFF is primarily a documentary festival acting as a platform for the contemporary political documentary from India. The festival also screens a number of documentaries from the Southasian region as well as fiction films from India and Southasia, which in their aesthetics and content speak to our political present.

Programming is the soul of KPFF. The festival is programmed with care by a selection committee, keeping in mind cinematic aspects, political arguments as well as the topicality, social relevance and geographical representation of the films. The goal of the festival is to encourage debate and discussion around questions ‘here and now’ that are sometimes forgotten, or swept under the rug. Or even worse, tip-toed around. We specifically look out for films which offer powerful perspectives on communalism, labour, caste and prejudice, civil rights, gender, self-determination, environmental issues, nationalism et cetera. The list is far from exhaustive. We welcome films which seek out new cinematic languages in trying to engage honestly with issues of great concern.

KPFF has one of the liveliest and most energetic audiences for independent political cinema in the country. With many film shows going houseful, films are always interspersed with talks, discussions and animated interactive sessions based on perspectives raised by the screenings. Filmmakers are invited to share their experiences and thoughts as they face the audience. The audience is an integral part of the whole process, with a free give and take of opinions. The festival is never restricted to within the hall. The festival premise, located in a busy central area of Kolkata, is often the hub of many a discussion. In true Kolkata spirit, filmmakers, artists, activists, students, film enthusiasts and people from all walks of life bond with each other, sharing their thoughts, ideologies, plans and feelings, often over endless cups of tea and animated arguments.

----
About the Organisers:

People's Film Collective (PFC) is an independent, autonomous, people-funded cultural-political collective based in West Bengal. Formed in 2013, it believes in the power of films as a weapon of pedagogy of the oppressed as well as alternative media for people. PFC organises monthly documentary screenings and conversations in Kolkata. It travels throughout Bengal with films & movement videos. Its members document people’s movements, make political documentaries and organise film workshops. PFC organises the ‘Kolkata People’s Film Festival’ in January, the 'Frames of Freedom' in August, and travelling documentary festivals around the year. The Collective has a campaign called 'Little Cinema' for screening and discussing thought-provoking films for children and young adults. PFC brings out a Bangla journal titled ‘Protirodher Cinema’ (translated as Films of Resistance), focussing on the documentary, political cinema and counterculture. The Collective often works together with like-minded collectives of the working class and people’s movements.

Awards & Winners

There are no winners yet for this festival

Terms and rules

CALL FOR ENTRIES - KPFF 2021!

=== CATEGORIES ===

1) Long Documentary (above 50 minutes, no upper limit)
2) Short Documentary (10 minutes to 49 minutes)
3) Long Fiction (above 50 minutes, no upper limit)
4) Short Fiction (10 minutes to 49 minutes)

=== CRITERIA ===

1) KPFF is primarily a documentary festival acting as a platform for the contemporary political documentary from India. The festival also screens a number of documentaries from the Southasian region as well as fiction films from India and Southasia, which in their aesthetics and content speak to our political present.

2) Whereas the filmmakers can be from anywhere in the world, subject matters must be of direct and compelling socio-political relevance in India in particular and Southasia at large. The films must be shot in India/Southasia.

3) Only productions completed on or after 1 January 2019 are eligible for entry in KPFF 2021.

4) PRIORITY: Productions completed in the past year (2020) will receive priority. Productions that have not been released publicly will receive priority.

5) Films may be in any Southasian language, but have to be subtitled or dubbed in English.

6) A film that has been submitted for an earlier edition of the KPFF and not been selected, cannot be submitted again.

7) PREMIERE: The festival will give strong priority to films which would have at least a Kolkata premiere at KPFF. Indian, International and World Premiers would be most welcome.

=== VIDEO/AUDIO FORMAT ===

Films must be submitted via online screener ONLY. We do not accept DVDs, pen drives or hard drives.

Films may be submitted via ourcinema.in OR via filmfreeway.com (please don't make duplicate submissions) meeting the following criteria:
1) Video bitrate: 25 Mbps, Codec: H.264, mp4 or mov
2) Audio: 320 Kbps, AAC, 2 channel stereo
3) Aspect ratio 16×9, Resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels
4) English subtitles

=== IMPORTANT DATES ===

Regular Submission Deadline (for productions with a completion date between January 2019 and September 2020): 1st OCTOBER 2020

Late Submission Deadline (ONLY for productions with a completion date during October 2020): 1st NOVEMBER 2020

Notification Date: 15th NOVEMBER 2020

Confirmation of Premiere Status: 20th NOVEMBER 2020

Submission of final screening copy: 30th NOVEMBER 2020

Announcement of final film list: 15th DECEMBER 2020

Entries must be submitted through
http://www.ourcinema.in/festival/submission/
OR
https://filmfreeway.com/KolkataPeoplesFilmFestival
(Please use either of the two. Do not make duplicate submissions.)

=== SPECIAL SCREENINGS ===

Apart from the selection made from entries by filmmakers, KPFF reserves the right to screen a limited number of invited films curated by the selection committee. The latter includes special screenings and retrospectives.

=== FEES AND AWARDS ===

1) There are no submission fees to enter a film.

2) There are no monetary awards. The best award offered by KPFF is a lovely, lively, critical, engaging cinema audience, and the chance to meet and interact with the contemporary filmmaking community, in one of the most vibrant festivals of political cinema in the subcontinent.

=== RULES ===

1) Stick to the deadlines, for your entry to be eligible.

2) The festival organisers may make an exception to any of the criteria or rules if deemed necessary.

3) The decision of the selection committee is final.

4) Once a film is selected and the filmmaker notified, it is the responsibility of the filmmaker to ensure that a screening copy reaches the Festival desk within the stipulated date. It is also the filmmaker's responsibility to correctly inform the Festival about the premiere status of the film. This is a requirement, failing which a selection will, unfortunately, stand revoked.

5) Films once selected (and notified) cannot be withdrawn.

=== PROMOTIONS ===

The Festival reserves the right to use up to 10 minutes of the film’s running time for promotional use. Information submitted by the filmmakers may also be used for promotional purposes.

=== TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION ===

1) KPFF offers comfortable shared accommodation only to film directors of selected films, for ALL categories.

2) KPFF offers travel reimbursement (equivalent to 3 AC train fare on normal trains) to and from the city of residence (within India) of the film director(s) of selected films, as specified in the submission form. The travel reimbursement is offered ONLY to participating filmmakers in the LONG DOCUMENTARY and LONG FICTION categories.

3) KPFF is delighted to welcome other members of the film crew of selected films, who are willing to bear their own travel and accommodation costs.

4) KPFF is unable to offer travel reimbursement to filmmakers participating from outside India.

5) KPFF does not offer travel or accommodation to filmmakers residing in Kolkata, as specified in the submission form.

=== FESTIVAL ARCHIVE ===

KPFF reserves the right to store a copy of selected films in the Festival Digital Archive. The films may be used for future non-commercial screenings by the People’s Film Collective, with prior intimidation to the filmmakers.

Ratings & Reviews

Categories and fees

Long Documentary (above 50 minutes, no upper limit)
Early Bird (1st September, 2020) €0
Regular (1st October, 2020) €0
Late (1st November, 2020) €0

Short Documentary (10 minutes - 50 minutes)
Early Bird (1st September, 2020) €0
Regular (1st October, 2020) €0
Late (1st November, 2020) €0

Long Fiction (above 50 minutes, no upper limit)
Early Bird (1st September, 2020) €0
Regular (1st October, 2020) €0
Late (1st November, 2020) €0

Short Fiction (10 minutes - 50 minutes
Early Bird (1st September, 2020) €0
Regular (1st October, 2020) €0
Late (1st November, 2020) €0

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