Documentaries shot on mobiles to be shown at Canada festival
The evolution of cellphones as a viable means of filmmaking is now being mainstreamed, as a set of short movies shot with mobiles will be showcased at the 25th edition of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, North America’s largest documentary film festival.
The festival, which starts on April 26, will feature nearly 250 films and within its extensive programming will be the section Big Steps, comprising six short documentaries using the “latest smartphone technology”.
“The remarkable growth of digital technology has made the art of filmmaking more accessible, encouraging people to play with and create high-quality footage on their handheld device,” Hot Docs executive director Brett Hendrie said in a statement.
These films will explore
“life’s profound moments”, reflecting the intimate nature of the device itself.
Among the filmmakers who are part of this innovative series is award-winning Indo-Canadian director Nimisha Mukerji. Her film, The Naming Tree, which she co-produced with her husband Mark Ratzlaff, revolves around the expected birth of their first child in April. The birth will also be included in the finished version of the project-in-progress.
The concept behind the film is to serve as a document to their child’s heritage. Mukerji’s father is a Bengali from Kolkata, while her mother is a Mangalorean from Mumbai. Her husband’s parents have German and Irish roots.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Mukerji laughed about how she faces “lots of due dates”.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions over naming our baby. We’re trying to come up with a name that would allow the baby to understand where he came from, from both sides,” Mukerji said. And multi-heritage forms the background to the film, which also looks at how the grandparents want to be called by their grandkid.
Mukerji said that using a smartphone adds “a sense of immediacy and rawness” to the filmmaking process and is less intrusive than a conventional camera unit. “People are very comfortable with phones versus pulling out a large camera,” she said.
TORONTO: