Renowned Indian filmmaker Sudhir Mishra was in Kolkata to attend the closing ceremony of the first edition of the French Film Festival.

Before the closing ceremony, the director graced the press conference and interacted with the media.

Also present were director Gautam Ghosh, actress Mia Maelzer, and Nicolas Facino, Director of Alliance Francaise du Bengale.

Speaking at the event, Gautam Ghosh said “This maiden edition of the French Film Festival was an amazing endeavour to make the cinema lovers aware of the French films. Moreover, the love and support that the audience in Kolkata shows to films is unprecedented. Jean-Luc Godard once said that he must make his films in Kolkata as people loved them more here than in his own country”.

Anurag Kashyap’s comment about the deteriorating quality of Bengali films has led to much debate and controversy. Speaking about this issue, Sudhir Mishra said “Anurag is like my brother and he meant it in a good way. He did not mean to demean any filmmaker. Compared to the Bengali films made in earlier times, the recent ones often do not match up to their grandeur. This can be called constructive criticism”.

Sudhir Mishra also said that the Bengal government must take some steps to ensure that films are tax-free and provisions must be made under such grounds.

Gautam Ghosh said “The fact that Bengali films often are found in film festivals is proof of the fact that we have to better our content. Yes, some filmmakers are making different content. But the general content has become stagnated. In recent times, there has been a tendency to make films on detectives and thrillers. But that must not be the case”.

Mia Maelzer studied films at Alliance Francaise, Kolkata, and also did a film appreciation course at Nandan. To come to Nandan with her French film, The Braid gave the actress much pride and she beamed with enthusiasm at the press conference.

Nicolas Facino was happy with the appreciation and love from the Kolkata audience for the inaugural French Film Festival. He hoped to organize more such festivals in the future.

Priyanka Dutta