Gathering funds, making films available to wider audiences while earning enough to keep the home fires burning, independent filmmakers say they go through a lot to tell stories rooted in their culture and tradition.
“Sunpat” director Rahul Rawat, Kombong Darang of “The Songs We Sing, The Drums We Beat” fame, co-director of “Pataal-Tee” Mukund Narayan, and Rizza Alee, known for “It is This” showcased their films at the second edition of The Himalayan Film Festival (THFF) in Leh, Ladakh recently. They may come from different states, but these filmmakers believe having an independent voice and vision in filmmaking is not easy.
Rawat, who hails from Uttarakhand, said he “spent a few lakhs” from his own pocket to make “Sunpat”. The Garhwali short fiction film follows the story of childhood love as it deals with the theme of socioeconomic migration in the mountain state.
“I wonder how we will make a feature film if we don’t recover money? To arrange funds, we started an event where we presented our film with music performances. Tickets were priced starting Rs 500. One of the shows was held at JLN Stadium in Delhi and there was 95 per cent occupancy,” said a former advertising professional.
