MUMBAI: Making a strong pitch for the documentary films in the country, filmmaker Jahnu Barua said that with the advent of technical ease there is a spurt in short film making; however, due to lack of awareness and outlets people are not getting to see most of the output. A lot of ground needs to be covered to propagate documentary film viewing in India, he said.

Barua disclosed that the association is emphasizing the concept of documentary as education to generate interest among youth. In this connection many educational institutions are being contacted and are being provided technical support for promoting documentary film viewing. A Guwahati College will hold documentary film festival from 17 to 19 December. Barua said that lot of activities are taking place in the avenues like Film Bazaar of IFFI but he lamented the lack of interest by the Indian buyers.

The vice president of the Association Ramesh Tekwani underlined the growing market for content in emerging platforms like mobile phones. However, he was emphatic that without a viable plan for financial return the movement will not reach the desired level. He expressed concern that Indian television channels have not developed a viable system of commissioning documentaries. Due to its fragmented nature it is increasingly difficult to measure the economic contribution of documentaries in the content market.

The association’s Goa coordinator Gurudas Kamat said that there is rise in Goa’s participation in the short film centre of IFFI and association is undertaking a special drive to increase the membership of Goan filmmakers in the association. He also informed that technical seminars on various aspects of film-making are also being organized in the educational institutes in the state.