First Edition-- February 2006
The inaugural edition of ViBGYOR Film Festival was held from February 22-25, 2006 in Thrissur. Chetana Media Institute, Thrissur, with the support of organisations like Nottam (Kerala) and Abhivyakti Media for Development (Nasik) took the initiative in organising this Festival, in which around 200 films were screened. The theme for the Focus of the Year 2006 was `Water’.
The Festival began with a National Conference on `Identities and Diversity’, in which Dr. Kancha Ilaiah delivered the keynote address. Mr. Lasse Naukkarinen from Finland inaugurated the Festival.
The national level competition for Documentaries was based on the theme `Women Frames’. Non-competitive section included national and international short fiction, documentaries, music videos, animations and spots. The Retrospective section had three packages, of Lasse Naukarinen (Finland), Anjali Monteiro & K. P. Jayasankar and Amar Kamnwar. The Festival turned out to be a platform for the representatives of various people’s movements to address various dimensions of the theme ‘Water’ and a film package on the same theme was screened.
Padmavibhushan Adoor Gopalakrishnan was the chief guest of the closing ceremony and he gave away awards to the winners in the competition section. Forty filmmakers from all over India and close to a thousand delegates attended the festival.
The festival also witnessed an attempt by the Hindu right wing organizations to impose cultural censorship. They objected to the screening of the music video `Vandemataram-a shit version’ and wanted to stop the festival alleging that the films shown are anti-national/patriotic and derogatory to the national pride.
Second Edition: May 2007
The second edition of ViBGYOR Film Festival began on May 10, 2007 with National Conference on ‘Earth’, the focus theme of the year.
The renowned Bangladeshi Filmmaker Yasmin Kabir inaugurated the festival. Reputed documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, social activist and scholar Ram Dayal Munda, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Chairman K.R.Mohanan, District Collector Dr. M. Beena, French Animation Filmmaker Herman Vehlag, Festival Director K.P.Sasi and others participated the inaugural ceremony. Anand Patwardhan inaugurated the Festival to the People in Pananchery Panchayat. Films were screened over three days in five venues.
Close to two hundred films from all over the world were screened in ViBGYOR package, Earth package, Kerala Spectrum, Global Concerns, Glimpses (Silvio Tendler, Brazil) and Retrospectives. Open forum discussions were conducted on various themes as part of the festival. Filmmakers from different parts of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and France participated. Representatives of various people’s movements in North East, Karnataka and Orissa made the Festival a stage to share their woes and seek solidarity. A Media Exhibition was also launched this year.
Third Edition: February 2008
Prior to the Film Festival, a National Conference was held at Thiruvanathapuram on `Energy- Policies, Problems and Solutions’ as ENERGY was the Focus of the Year. Magsaysay Award winner Sandeep Pandey delivered the keynote address.
The Film Festival was inaugurated on February 13 in Pananchery Panchayath as the `Festival from the People’. Lilly Francis, Panchayath President, along with 14 filmmakers from different parts of the world lighted lamps of peace and harmony. Rajaji Mathew Thomas MLA presided over the function. The `Inaugural Films’ package began with `Voices from Baliapal’, which was part of the `Ranjan Palit-Vasudha Joshi’ Retrospective. The short film `Akavum-Puravum’ scripted and directed by the women’s group of Pananchery Panchayath attracted wide attention.
Parallel to Village ViBGYOR festival organized in different centres of the Panchayath, the main event took place simultaneously at three venues in Thrissur town and in five nearby colleges. Renowned Malayalam poet D. Vinayachandran inaugurated the `ENERGY Event’ and the Focus of the Year film package. Around 175 films, pertaining to all packages and categories, including a Competition Section under the Kerala Spectrum category were screened.
Open Forum discussions and Mini Conferences were conducted daily at open-air venues. The topics discussed in the Open Forum included `India shining and the Other India’, `Economic liberalization and people at the margins’ and `Main stream media and alternative spaces’. The mini conferences addressed questions of gender and state repression in Manipur and elsewhere. The most remarkable addition to the third edition of ViBGYOR was the Campaign films screened in the open-air venue and the prolonged discussions and formulation of action plans. The campaigns were a) against the proposed `Athirappilly hydro-electric project’ b) `Chakkamkandam sewage plant’ and c) to repeal the AFSPA in Manipur.The representatives of these struggles participated in the interaction.
The Closing ceremony was held on February 17. Vasudha Joshi presented the awards to the winners of Kerala Spectrum Competition section in the function.
Fourth edition: February 2009
ViBGYOR-09 was held from February 4-8 at Regional Theatre, Thrissur. The Focus of the Year was ‘Food Sovereignty’ or ‘Bhakshya Swaraj’. The Film Festival was inaugurated by Dr. Ilina Sen, wife of human rights activist in Chhatisgarh Dr. Binayak Sen. Babu M Pallissery MLA presided over the function.
Shabnam Hashmi, well known anti-communalism activist presented a memento to Dr Ilina Sen expressing solidarity to Dr Binayak Sen. The inaugural films included Gaon Chhodab Nahin by K P Sasi, Eadu by Marcin Sauter, I sit like and old Buddha by Nandan Saxena and Kavita Behl, The Controlling Power by Sunil Sukhada, Runaway Grooms by Ali Kazmi and Had Anhad by Shabnam Veermani. Kamla Bhasin, renowned international feminist activist inaugurated the retrospectives of Shabnam Veermani and Ali Kazmi. More than a hundred films were screened in the theme packages section. Bride wanted directed by Sara Da Costa, Koodalloor Puzhayile Kunjadi directed by Manoj Panthayil and Love Song by Richa Hushing were a few among these. Films made by school children were also screened.
National Conference on Food sovereignty, held on 4 February was inaugurated by K R Viswambaran, Vice Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University. Smithu Kothari from Intellectual Resources, New Delhi, was the moderator of the conference. Kamla Bhasin gave the keynote address on the topic ‘Food Sovereignty as different from Food Security’. A symbolic ritual of a farmer handing over seeds to young school children marked the inauguration of ‘farm and food fair’. Ashokan master, farmer and editor of Bharat Mudra distributed seeds to students of Model Girls’ School, Thrissur. Many stalls from various parts of India were arranged in the venue premises. DDS Hydrabad and Kerala Agricultural University took initiative to run these stalls.
Kabir Sandhya, recital of Kabir dohas by Shabnam Veermani and Nilanjana Biswas was held on the second day. The music night held on 7th February was a reviving experience for the participants.
Mini conferences on various issues including Communal and Secular polities: Responses to terrorism, stereotyping and genocide’, ‘Dravidian Ethnicity politics in South Asian context’ and ‘Threats to Livelihood and people’s basic rights’ were organised as part of ViBGYOR. Open forums provided a platform for the participants and common men to express their views and ideas. The topics under discussion ranged from media, communalism and politics to ‘Why are we silent?’ Free Binayak Sen and Restore Democracy Campaign was held on the last day of the Festival.
The Workshop on Community Radio was inaugurated by Vinod Chandra Menon (Member, National Disaster Management Authority). The Workshop threw light on the technical aspects, scope and practical problems of starting and operating community radio.
The valedictory function of ViBGYOR International Film Festival-09 was inaugurated by C K Chandrappan MP. K R Mohanan, Chairman, Chalachitra Academy was the chief guest. Therambil Ramakrishnan MLA presided over. R K Asha, Shyam Navas and Rupesh Kumar were conferred with ViBGYOR Fellowship, instituted on this edition of the Festival.