Kolkatta, May 20, 2016: ‘Saubala’, which is one of the 40 films from India that has been selected in the ‘Short Film Corner’ at the Festival de Cannes 2016, is earning laurels and support not just from the film fraternity but its alma mater after its world premiere at the festival.
The short-film, which has been directed by debutant Aniket Chattopadhyay, is also one of six Bangla movies which have made it to the shortlist this year. Aniket, who belongs to the brigade of young directors, left a well settled career in visual effects to pursue his passion as an independent film director. After an initial stint as an assistant director with some prominent production houses in Kolkata where he worked on commercial films, Aniket switched gears and forayed into the independent film-making space.
‘Feel Good Movies’ Kolkata, a production house that specializes in making off-beat cinema, has teamed up with Aniket to make ‘Saubala’. Aniket feels that his experience during his days as a student of visual effects played a key role in helping him get closer to motion pictures. “To be honest, I had no idea that the project (Saubala) would take me so far. I am grateful to my experiences at MAAC Rashbehari as a VFX student as they shaped me, and inspired me to chase my dreams,” he said.
Aniket adds that he is inspired by the Bengali directors of yesteryears who pinned India on the global map of cinema. He aims to leave behind a similar legacy by capturing the essence of an evolving India, where the past embraces present to create an uneasy future.
Narrating the challenge as a debut film-maker, he added, “The story demanded an arid dry desert like location much similar to a drought-stricken land. It was not an easy task to find such a location in West Bengal. I wanted it to look exactly as I had visualized it. I would head out on the motorcycle and return exhausted and spent out each day for months travelling scores of miles, in an attempt to find the location.”
Naveen Choudhury, Director, MAAC Rashbehari Centre, applauded the achievement of Aniket and said he could see sparks of talent in Aniket when he enrolled for the VFX course and it is of great pride that MAAC Rashbehari trained him in the nuances of film making and his film has now made it to Cannes.
Celebrating the success of his alumnus, Shajan Samuel, Sr. Vice President, MAAC, said, “It is matter of pride not just for MAAC students and faculty but the Bengali film fraternity. We congratulate Aniket for this achievement and wish his journey as an independent filmmaker touches new heights in the near future.”
While Aniket is busy looking at sending Saubala to forthcoming film-festivals, his friends and supporters are contributing their bit by promoting the film on social media platforms. However, on being asked to name a few festivals he also already submitted the film, he said, “There are several well-known festivals. However, sharing names at this stage would not be appropriate. Once the film is screened at these festivals, Saubala will be screened for the Indian audience as well.”
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About MAAC:
Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) is India’s leading educator in high-end 3D Animation and Visual Effects. Founded in 2001 & a major brand of Aptech Ltd, MAAC has trained over 30000 students across the country. It has over 80 centres with cutting-edge infrastructure in over 40 cities.
MAAC offers industry relevant Career courses on 3D Animation & Visual Effects. It offers Real-life training environment to the students backed by an excellent faculty, infrastructure, and the latest technical educational tools.
MAAC’s students are placed as Modeling Artists, Lighting Artist, Render Artist, Character Animator, Layout Artist , Digital Sculptor, Rigging Artist, FX Artist, Roto Artist, Match Mover, Video Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Compositors, Visualizes, Content Developers and Pre and Post Production executives in blue chip animation studios and entertainment companies like Prime Focus, Rhythm & Hues Studios, Crest Animation Studios, BIG Animation, Cornershop, EFX, Toonz Animation, DQ Entertainment, Paprikaas Animation Studios, NDTV, Studio 9, Redchillies.VFX, Vaibhav Studios, IBN7, Animax, Pixion and Tata Elxsi Ltd. to name a few.
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