Students disappointed with FTII’s Film Appreciation course

The month-long Film Appreciation (FA) course jointly run by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and National Film Archive of India (NFAI) every summer, has been an important spot on the calendars of film aficionados across the country and abroad for many years. However, the much sought annual programme seems to have lost its sheen.
A letter, signed by 50 participants of the May 7-June 2 course, and addressed to the FTII director, expresses their disappointment.“Unless discussion takes place, how will we understand nuances or symbolism? What is the point of screening two movies back-to-back and not analysing them? Hence, the purpose of the course is defeated unless there is meaningful discussion chaired by an expert,” states the letter. Students also raised their concerns time and again through the run of the institute’s flagship course, but to no avail.
A film enthusiast from Delhi, who is a software developer by profession, said after completing the FA course, “Getting through the course is difficult as participants are shortlisted on the basis of what they write. As many of them apply and only a few get shortlisted, expectation of the course becomes high. This year, we had very few discussions. At least 90 per cent of students come from film background who felt that the course content was too rudimentary.”
The course is specially designed for those having a keen knowledge and love for cinema. The four-week extensive course, which starts at 9 am and goes on till 11 pm six days a week, has lectures, discussions and screening of world cinema, followed by discussions of various facets of films. A participant has to pay Rs 20,000 as course fee.
Another student, who is a filmmaker, said, “First of all, the course given in the fees is amazing. But we feel that it could be better. The expectation set by participants is high, therefore we felt that a few lecturers could either have been a lot better or done away with completely. Initially, we told the co-ordinators about our expectation and then we wrote a letter too. With free knowledge on the internet, we felt that same was being discussed in the lectures. If a few of these things are changed, then it can surely be a wonderful course in the future.”
The letter — sent after the end of the FA course, which are now being conducted in several other cities in the country — mentioned that the lecturers were unable to answer questions of participants and they kept on searching for the clips to be shown. It also disclosed that important sessions on elements of direction and aesthetics were cancelled. Incidentally, there was no critically acclaimed director taking their classes either.
The participants lamented the lack of discussion on Memories of Underdevelopment, Andrei Rublev, 8 1/2 (Eight and Half), Battleship Potemkin, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, The Rules of the Game, Man with a Movie Camera, Side by Side, Silence, as that was the curriculum’s fulcrum.
Another Pune-based student said, “Usually, we would get the timetable a week on the preceding Friday or Saturday, but the schedule was changed four times in the last week. Sessions on direction never took place and we were waiting for expert sessions eagerly. Teachers were also not prepared for the lectures and would not answer our queries. We wish there could be more planning about the course. On some days, if a lecture was cancelled by NFAI experts then FTII faculty would conduct those.”
While FTII director Bhupendra Kainthola refused to comment on Thursday, FA course co-ordinator Amit Tyagi said, “The FA course is designed to expand the horizon of the participants. It is up to them to expand it a little or more. Also, there are people coming from varied backgrounds, so the level of understanding of students is also different. We keep on changing the content of the course as per requirement and also include suggestions of students. This year, they wanted a special session on Alfred Hitchcock movies which we arranged.”
Prakash Magdum, director, NFAI, said, “It is difficult to satisfy each and every student. As per our policy on changing course content, we conducted sessions on web series. We try our best to offer informative sessions. While most of the films are available on the internet and participants can watch same movies on their laptops but there is a difference of watching the same with like-minded people. The experience of watching it at FA course or discussing the same is altogether different.”
- Sukhada Khandge