The five emerging filmmakers participating in the MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone program symbolize the evolution of Indian cinema, daring to challenge conventional norms and pioneer new narrative approaches
28 May 2024
The filmmaking scenario is widely changing in today’s times with young filmmakers exploring more technologically advanced and less complex methods of filmmaking. On similar lines to support young filmmakers, previous year, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival introduced ‘MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone,’ allowing emerging filmmakers to redefine cinematic norms. Shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max and edited on a MacBook Pro, these five high-quality short films were showcased in an exclusive preview on April 18, 2024.
The five emerging filmmakers participating in the MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone program symbolize the evolution of Indian cinema, daring to challenge conventional norms and pioneer new narrative approaches. Vishal Bhardwaj, renowned for his award-winning short film ‘ Fursat ’ shot on iPhone in 2023, along with acclaimed writer, director, and producer Vikramaditya Motwane, and the filmmaker Rohan Sippy known for his stylised filmmaking, have mentored Archana Atul Phadke, Faraz Ali, Prateek Vats, Saumyananda Sahi, and Saurav Rai. Under the expert guidance of these three pillars of Indian cinema, the young filmmakers were urged to push creative boundaries, crafting compelling narratives in a fresh cinematic format.
Talking about this new format of filmmaking and technology changing, with the whole idea of shooting films on an iPhone, Faraz Ali said, “I’ve shot films on cans also, then moved to digital and now on iPhone. I’ll tell you the management of data. I think it’s the data, that size has compressed over a period of time because and also the touch points that we have, reduced massively. So initially I remember when we used to shoot on films, then I used to carry because the, assisting times that I would carry the cans and I would take it to the studio and get a telephony done and then reverse telephony later. So it was like a very long process.”
The filmmaker added, “I mean, that has its all, charm and, you know, beauty to it. But right now the process of directly shooting it on an iPhone and then shooting it on draw 4k and importing it on a MacBook Pro and then, you know, without even transporting edit while editing it, it’s it’s quite a rewarding process because it’s it reduces your time, the data file, the which is, you know, the size of the data is also really small tools to store. However, the last test was like, you know, whether that image will last in our theater or not, but once it’s blown really big. And I think that it really proved itself because, you know, having shot it on 4k and then projected around 4 k, it was totally rewarding to watch it in the theater.”
Archana Atul Phadke opined, “I was pretty comfortable doing this right from the get go is also because, like, in the pre in the past, actually, I have always shot actually on small formats because I make documentaries. And my last documentary, I actually shot on a handy-cam, which is, again, a very small format camera. And I feel that anything, the moment you reduce the size of your equipment, the distance between you and your subject becomes much smaller. That you do kind of this like, I’ve been saying this, that I think that your the smaller the equipment size, you reduce the, distance between you and your creativity. And in that sense, it is very, very liberating.”
She added, “Also, being able to do short format stuff as opposed to long format with, with a camera. Like, this is also more liberating because you have a short time to deliver your films. The stakes are not so high. So, you know, you’re more playful, I think, with, the fact that that a small device can put get playfulness to your creative process, that itself is exhilarating and liberating.”
Saurav Rai said, “For me, the most liberating part was having coming from the background, like, just made to check-in over the course of 4 years or 5 years. The ease of moving around with the equipment, with this kind of app. And, plus, like, in a typical long format, you have to mount a camera with the various gears, everything. And here, we were, like, just with the bare minimum, the iPhone and the the simple, hold kind of a holding kind of a grip. So that kind of, freedom like that.”
He continued, “Sometimes, like, you are in situations where you not you cannot you don’t have time to mount those kind of bigger cameras. Here, we wear small devices. We could just jump around, go there, come out from a vehicle, and climb the mountain, and the weather is just there now. It may not not be the next to 10 minutes. So we it that that that that kind of a, you know, film, it offered. I remember there was a scene where we might it probably was the only table to take because of the, you know, timing in the evening.”
This is what Prateek Vats had to say, “It lends itself to a little more intuition and intuitive way of filming, and it lets you do. It helps you break more rules if I may say so, because also you realize that really now nothing is stopping you from, taking the shot you that you want to take. It’s only your thought which is limiting you. Otherwise, the equipment, no longer is the case where technology is, like, you have to work around the technology and stuff like that.”
He added, “Having said that, filmmaking is so intrinsically linked, linked with technology all the time that it’s every time something new comes up, it’s very exciting because of this very thought of it’ll make it more accessible. It’ll make it more liberating. It’ll make it more lean, the process of filmmaking. It’ll help us, like, get different kinds of film going and different voices coming through and all of that stuff. So I feel that way, it’s really exciting to be working with new technology and to see the kind of results that we saw on the big screen.”
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