'KIFF good on variety, needs better technology'

Kolkata, Nov 16 (IANS) Lauding the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) for focusing on films from southeast Asia this year, Paolo Bertolin, south-east Asia and Pacific selector for Venice Film Festival Saturday said KIFF should pay more attention to its technical aspect.

While praising the organisers for including a wide variety of films, Bertolin however pointed out the technical superiority of other film festivals.

"The fact that they are focusing on southeast Asia is very good...there's a variety of Asian cinema that are being screened. However one thing they could enhance is the technical part...that needs to be better," Bertolin told IANS.

The present edition of the film fest has seen a few glitches - like a three-hour delay in the screening of Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai's movie.

The fest will honour the best film from the region with the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award. Films from Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, China, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand will vie for the award.

Bertolin is also part of the three-member jury for the NETPAC award at KIFF.

Comparing the entries for the Venice Film Fest, the world's oldest film fest, and the KIFF, which is India's second oldest film festival, Bertolin conceded both are "very different". But he pointed out that KIFF takes the cake with respect to the eligibility of films for screening.

"In Venice, you can't show a film if it has been screened anywhere else (with some exceptions in special cases)...whereas KIFF allows filmmakers to show their films even if they have screened anywhere else," he said.

Copyright  IANS

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