Pune: The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Films Division (FD), both media units under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, have come together to start short courses in Mumbai.
Under a maiden joint venture, three-week long Foundation Courses in Digital Cinematography, Screenplay Writing and Acting have been started at Films Division premises in South Mumbai.
Of the 67 participants for the courses, 11 are women. The oldest participant is 73 yrs old, and the youngest is 18. Besides Mumbai, Thane, Akola, Aurangabad, Nashik and Pune in Maharashtra, participants have also come from Karnataka (Bengaluru, Manipal), Arunachal Pradesh (Changlang), Uttarakhand (Dehradun, Rudrapur), Bihar (Patna, Gaya), Jammu and Kashmir (Jammu), Punjab (Mohali, Ludhiana, Patiala), Uttar Pradesh (Pratapgarh) and Madhya Pradesh.
Bhupendra Kainthola, Director, FTII Pune, and Swati Pande, Director, FD, launched the courses in the presence of Course directors AS Kanal (Foundation Course in Digital Cinematography), Vikas Sharma (Foundation Course in Screenplay Writing) and Chander Mohan Khanna (Foundation Course in Acting).
In his inaugural address, Kainthola said, “The short courses movement under FTII’s banner of SKIFT (Skilling India in Film and Television), which started as a trickle, is now a torrent. We have received an overwhelming response to the SKIFT courses, from Port Blair to Srinagar, from Jaipur to Delhi and Mumbai. FTII has long held position as a national front-ranker in film and television education.” In her address, Pande said, “Films Division enjoys a long reputation and experience in promoting India’s documentary movement. Pairing up with FTII brings in a rare synergy while offering quality and affordable short courses. Together we will conduct more such courses.”
Global digital imaging giant Canon is the Technology Partner of SKIFT. For technical support, Mumbai-based Yasuka and Studio Assist are the other partners.
Short courses are also on the anvil in other places including Hardwar (Uttarakhand) from August 23.
