Katha

Since its inception, the Katha Centre for Film Studies (KCFS), a unit of Katha, New Delhi, has actively involved young people from Mumbai in its film festivals/activities. Besides organising regular screenings, KCFS has encouraged young minds to think about film critically and carefully, creating spaces where they can present films to a wider public. As a Nodal Centre for film curatorial practice under the Curatorship Programme, KCFS will conduct a workshop on film curatorial practice and host a five-day film festival curated by participants selected from the workshop.

Given the multi-disciplinary nature of curatorial studies and the nascent stage of film curatorial practice in the country, a review of the project highlighted that a three-day workshop did not give adequate time to delve into several critical questions and debates around the practice of curation. Neither was the workshop sufficient to equip participants with the methodological and interpretative tools needed to curate a film festival. This grant is made to enable KCFS to extend the annual workshop from three days to five days, as well as allow them to host a one-day ancillary second workshop for those participants whose curatorial ideas had been selected for the festival. The additional two days of the workshop will allow for a better understanding of context of programming and curating films in India. The next workshop will aim to examine the history of film curatorial practice in India through case studies and an unpacking of different curatorial styles. The grant will also provide for adequate documentation of the workshop, which is necessary for building discourse around film curatorial practice. 

Additionally, the feedback received from participants, and a review by the Steering Committee and programme staff, highlighted that while participants had put in considerable effort to finalise their curatorial choices/presentation for the film festival, their ideas would have benefited considerably from specialised inputs. This grant therefore will enable KCFS to incorporate a rigorous mentorship programme to oversee the conceptualisation of participants’ curatorial ideas, and to suggest films and resources to them.