E-Paper
FTII anthology celebrates achievements of its women alumni
The book has three segments which include conversations between alumni, personal reflections but, most importantly, it details the work of 503 women who graduated from FTII between 1965-2016
To acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of the women alumni trained at city-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in specialisations like direction, scriptwriting, cinematography, sound recording, production design, acting and production, the institute in association with the Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has created compilation titled “Balancing the Wisdom Tree - An Anthology of FTII’s Women Alumni”.
The book, released earlier in March, has three segments which include conversations between alumni, personal reflections but, most importantly, it details the work of 503 women who graduated from FTII between 1965-2016.
Readers will get an opportunity to know the inspirations behind training in film from the first woman graduate Parvati Menon in 1966 to director Payal Kapadia, who was awarded at the Cannes in 2021.
During the book release, Arunaraje Patil, eminent filmmaker and FTII alumna, emphasised the requirement of recording the achievements of its women alumni. Editor of the book, Gauri Durga Chakraborty and three other alumni– Reena Mohan, Gissy Michael and Dorothy Varma were also part of the book release that was held in International Kolkata Book Fair on March 8, celebrated as International Women’s Day.
Director-General, Press Information Bureau (East Zone) Bhupendra Kainthola congratulated the collective efforts of FTII and Publications Division in bringing out this publication. FTII registrar, Shri Sayyid Rabeehashmi and Associate Professor, Shri Vikram Verma were also present at the book release.
With the growth of media and entertainment in this country, it is important to realise that more and more stories will emerge and training of women storytellers and professionals will be critical to creating a diversity of content.
FTII has been the nurturing space for such training. This collection will act as a friendly guide to make young female aspirants of the future aware of the challenges, responsibilities and achievements of their fraternity in the past.
