A couple of Navy officers, software writers, general managers and full time film makers (and weekend journalists like myself) were present for the first film camp of 2009 organized by the Bangalore Roof Top Film Festival Community. Comprising people from various professions, the BRTFF is driven by a common passion of making and appreciating films. The aim of the community is to provide technical assistance to film makers and to appreciate films via group viewing and discussions.

Organized at the small but cozy Magic Space (The Magic Space, #481, Avalahalli BDA Park Bus Stop, Girinagar,Bangalore - 560085), the event was a total sellout. The schedule for the day was fairly straightforward, we were supposed to see films and comment on them. Some were short globules of geniuses by people like Sriram Raghvan, Joya Bhaduri (yes its her and thats the spelling) and Madan Bavaria and some were first attempts by people like Karthik, whose first film, ‘The Last Train’ was really appreciated by everyone.

The great thing about the whole event was there was a definite take away for the film makers. They went back with feedback on the first versions of their creations (much like the beta release of a software) to improvise and improve. Most of the films were short, 4-10 mins. Although one, a horror film, another first attempt, called ‘Tension’ was 23 minutes long. To my untrained filmy senses, all the films,  had a decent script and thought process behind them. The camera work seemed pretty good but the acting, background score, use of lighting could have been better, but I guess thats why they were there. Anand Varadara from Palador Cinema introduced the idea behind the indie section in Palador’s DVDs and also initiated an insightful discussion on the avenues for an indie film maker in India.

I particularly liked this small script of a film called Chotti Sapna by Ranjani about a girl who couldnt see and the camerawork done for this another one by Krishna called ‘a road trip to remember’ was quite intriguing.

I liked the no BS, simple and straightforward attitude of the event (much like dirty jobs by Mike Rowe). You see films by individuals, comment on camera work, music, script, acting, lighting, virtually any aspect of film making and the film makers present on the spot, define their constraints, defend the storyline or just simply take whatever comes at them. Nobody tries to sell anything to you or them and it fits exactly into the definition of an unconference (though the law of two feet doesn’t quite fit the bill in this single point program meet). Really looking forward to watching some of the creations coming out of this extremely passionate ecosystem.

For more info on BRTFF, please join the mailing list here.