A new Gen Z film festival is coming to Kolkata! Find out how long it will run and which forgotten director it plans to honour for his connection to ‘Pather Panchali’.
There’s always a lot of buzz around Gen Z, and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called this generation very important. Keeping this in mind, Kolkata’s Nandan complex is all set to host a Gen Z film festival, called the Bengali Youth Festival.
Gen Z film festival in Kolkata
The festival will kick off on August 28 and run till August 30. Over these two days, it will showcase films made by young, up-and-coming directors. This move comes after a Gen Z movement started in Delhi, and more recently, Amit Shah visited Prosenjit Chatterjee’s home in Kolkata. Sources claim that Shah’s visit was to discuss ways to bring new, young talent into the film industry.
Speaking of Prosenjit Chatterjee, he has been named the patron of the ‘Bengali Youth Film Festival’ committee. He has already released a video message, inviting young filmmakers to participate.
Minister Agnimitra Paul commented on the initiative, saying, “There are many talented directors who don’t get the opportunities they deserve. This effort is for them. We invite everyone to come and watch some great films.”
Meanwhile, the committee’s president, Pritam Sarkar, shared a fascinating detail. He said the festival will honour the late director Debaki Kumar Bose.
Here’s the interesting part
Bose was the one who originally wanted to make ‘Pather Panchali’. He had acquired the rights and even spoken to the author Bibhutibhushan’s family. Of course, the film was later famously made by Satyajit Ray. “The modern generation doesn’t know him, so we want to honour him,” Sarkar explained. He added that since ‘Pather Panchali’ was released on August 26, the festival has been scheduled around that date.