‘We want to democratise film making skills’

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), a Pune-based premier institute for films and television started an outreach programme by organising short duration courses across the country in May 2017. Over 125 such courses have been organised so far, mostly in smaller cities. Director of FTII Bhupendra Kainthola who was in Lucknow on Saturday, spoke to HT about the programme.

What is the idea behind the outreach programme of FTII?

For decades, the reach of the FTII has only been limited to the students who study there after qualifying the entrance exam. We want to change this through an initiative called SKIFT (Skilling India in Film and Television) under which our experts go to different parts of the country and conduct short courses on disciplines related to films and television. The programme started in 2017 and since then we have conducted over 125 short courses in 26 locations across the country. We have conducted a course in Leh in the north and Car Nicobar in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Around 6,000 people have participated in these courses.

What is your target audience for these courses?

We take candidates above the age of 18 but we have not kept an upper age limit. This has been done to ensure that people from all walks of life get a chance to learn about film making, film writing and all other aspects which they want to try their hands on. So we get young students who want to make a future in films and television to working professionals who want to improve their skills. Even the elderly participate in our course. We trained a 72-year-old woman in screen acting under one of our programmes in Mumbai.

How do you plan to take this initiative forward?

We want to democratise the knowledge of film making and aspects related to it by this programme. We can train only a few students at FTII but with these courses we can target a larger group that would benefit them at different levels. Further we plan to take this programme more to tier II and tier III cities because people in these cities get fewer opportunities. We also try to innovate courses according to the changing times and technologies to remain viable in the digital generation.

Online entertainment sphere has boomed in recent years. How will this impact the traditional media? The online entertainment is increasingly taking the entertainment space and it is bound to affect the traditional media. But we must see this as an opportunity. Our television and cinema halls are going to stay longer. Those who are trained in the traditional media can always work in the online entertainment segment. We must keep our minds open and embrace change.

FTII was last in news for the controversy in selection of chairman. How is the situation there now? The controversy was a bad phase for us. It also impacted the studies because students came out to protest on the issue. However, that is history now. The matter has been resolved. Students are back to classes learning about film making with the guidance of their faculty.