FTII's Film Appreciation students express disappointment with quality of course at premier Pune institution

Students of the Film Appreciation (FA) course at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune have drawn attention to the quality of the once-highly regarded course in the iconic Pune-based institution. A letter, signed by 50 students attending the 7 May to 2 June FA course, bemoaned the lack of discussion following the screenings of important films such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin and Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game. [caption id=“attachment_4292641” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Film and Television Institute of India. File image.[/caption] “Unless discussion takes place, how will we understand nuances or symbolism? What is the point of screening two movies back-to-back and not analysing them? Hence, the purpose of the course is defeated unless there is meaningful discussion chaired by an expert,” read a letter sent to Pune Mirror. Despite raising concerns throughout the duration of the course, the institute failed to take any action. Although the admission process for the course was stringent, most students — who are either cinephiles or filmmakers — believed the course at a supposed premier film institute to be “too rudimentary.” The four-week course, which costs Rs 20,000, is run by FTII and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI). It has been designed specifically for passionate film enthusiasts, who enjoy the analysis and critical appreciation of world cinema. Many felt the course did not offer any information that could not have been learnt through Wikipedia or the Internet. In extension of the issue, the students drew attention to constant schedule changes, session cancellations and unresponsive teachers. Course co-ordinator Amit Tyagi told Pune Mirror, “The FA course is designed to expand the horizon of the participants. It is up to them to expand it a little or more. Also, there are people coming from varied backgrounds so the level of understanding of students is also different.” Prakash Magdum, director of NFAI remarked that it is difficult to comply to the needs of every student’s wishes.