We are here, and not at IFFK, because we are passionate about cinema: Apurva Asrani at KNIFF 2018

Editor and screenwriter Apurva Asrani was one of the mentors at the KNIFF Script Lab, a new initiative introduced by the Kazhcha-Niv Indie Film Festival this year, that aims to mentor young scriptwriters and provide valuable insights that would aid them in their writing process. 

This was Asrani's first time attending the festival and he took the opportunity to congratulate filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan for his efforts in creating a niche space for the festival. "I’m a huge fan of Sanal’s... I was so taken by S Durga (2018) for the simple reason that it’s saying something that society needs to understand. We keep talking about women empowerment and feminism but he has actually illustrated how society treats women in such an authentic, honest manner.

"I don’t think that any filmmaker has pointed out this hypocrisy in our society so well, till date... and the journey that he makes with the film, to get it screened and how all state sponsored festivals rejected the film after it made it to India’s biggest international film festival [International Film Festival of India] after it made it to the final line-up…This is the same man who has started a festival here. Look at the audacity of the man… he gets talent from all over the country to support him, and they do because they love his work.” 

Talking about KNIFF 2018 and his impressions about it, he said, “Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s discussion here was one of the best sessions. The intimacy of the festival, the informality and the general atmosphere here where everyone is here for the passion. There is the festival to go to right down the road [referring to the International Film Festival of Kerala] but why are we here? We are here because we have a passion for cinema. We are here because we celebrate this audacity, this courage of this filmmaker and this festival, and somewhere see ourselves in it with the work we do and we are grouping together."

He elucidated his impressions of the festival by highlighting the festival's programming in particular, and said, “What I also like is that there aren’t too many films, just 12, but there’s so much planned around the films — discussions, panels, visits to film stalwart's homes to have coffee with them, which is quite unique."