Chopra was the first Indian to ever be a part of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival. The filmmaker recounts his experience at the festival.
Yash Chopra is back in town after his 12-day visit to Berlin. Chopra was the first Indian to ever be a part of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival. “It was a wonderful experience, something that I will never be able be able to express in words. For me it was a personal honour, but more than that I think it was an honour for our country and the entire film industry,” says the director-producer.
For Chopra, being a part of the event was also an eye-opener. “It was amazing to see how the city converted into a large festival. I have been on several juries in India and I must say that after Berlin I personally feel that we have a long, long way to go. A lot will have to be done here before our festivals achieve international standards.”
As a member of the jury, Chopra watched 21 films that were in the competition categories. “We used to have a jury meeting after every film in competition where we used to have open discussion about the films.” On the last day all the jury members were taken to a pre-designated bungalow where they openly debated and discussed all the films.
“I was amazed at the level of frankness with which we all discussed the films. There were no hang ups, neither was there any kind of pressure.” And, his favourite out of all the films that he watched? “I liked ‘Grbanica’, a 90-minute film from Bosnia about the after effects of war. The movie is very emotional and yet simple.” ‘Grbanica’ won the festival’s top prize - the Golden Bear.
Representing the Indian film industry were films like ‘Parineeta’, ‘Kalpurush’, ‘Doodh Aur Afeem’ and ‘John and Jane’. “Though these were shown at special screenings, the kind of response the films got was over whelming. Every day papers like Variety would write about our films.”
u_karishma@dnaindia.net
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