MUMBAI: Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films India Mobile Film Festival (IMFF 2016), in association with Reliance Communication & Talent house India, have created a platform for filmmakers to showcase their original creations by just using their mobile phones. The objective was to create a game changing platform for short films in India, which reduces the entry barrier for film-makers and bring creativity to the forefront. With a variety of smart phones on the market, every smartphone user (220 Mn+) in India is a potential film-maker.
Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films also showcases films made by some of India’s finest such as Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra, Sujoy Ghosh and inspires aspiring directors to create film and rewards them for their originality by showcasing them on the platform.
Commenting on the project Pernod Ricard India AVP marketing Raja Banerji said, “Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films was conceptualised to support the short film format in our country. We are proud to be the presenting partner to India Mobile Film Festival, an edgy and ground-breaking idea. In line with the Barrel Select philosophy of “Make it Perfect”, the brand intends to create a format to encourage creativity with this unique concept and connect with the discerning audience by offering a unique experience of fresh content through this platform. The Brand has always encouraged people to strive for perfection to achieve their dreams and Make it Large.”
Reliance Communications CEO consumer business Gurdeep Singh said “The Indian Mobile Film Festival (IMFF 2016) marks the beginning of a true revolution and transition on the art & culture scene and RCOM is delighted to partner with Talenthouse India and support the efforts,”. We are now at an age when smartphones are being used to express creativity with minimal budgets resulting in some extraordinary artistic and cinematic feat. We wish IMFF 2016 all the very best for this event and all their future endeavors,” he added.
Talenthouse India CEO Arun Mehra said, “After a successful first edition in 2015 where we received around 400 films and support from the industry and film-makers, we set out to make 2016 even bigger than last year. Talenthouse India is the largest curator of short films in India over the last 3 years. The idea of using a mobile phone to shoot films, had to be taken to the next level and we added a new Internationalfilm category this year because we believe that this format is global in nature. With support from our partners, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films & Reliance Communications, we were delighted to receive over 1200 films across categories from 7 countries. The artistic community has always provided us with exceptional content and this time has been no different.”
IMFF 2016 reached out to film-makers and budding artists across 60 Indian cities through a combination of Digital & on-ground outreach program. According to the IMFF figures, the combined reach for this campaign was about 5 Million and as a result, the campaign crowdsourced over 1200 films from across 60 cities and 7 countries in just 6 weeks.
This year, the India Mobile Film Festival invited participation in five categories included the newly inducted International category. The categories in 2016 are: Short films (5-10 mins), Micro films (2-5 mins), Nano films (up to 2 mins), International films (up to 10 mins) and My first short (Any interesting, quirky or impactful moments captured candidly on mobile) with cash prizes of over INR 3 lakh and individual awards to be won across categories.
A panel of renowned jury members, spearheaded by our Chief Mentor Sanjay Gadhvi – (superhit Director of Dhoom 1 and 2) have selected the very best films along with the highly respected film and television actress Shubha Khote, popular Film Actor and Producer Karan Shah, Superhit Editor Rameshwar S. Bhagat and film writer Rohit Banawlikar.
