Founder Message
Dr.Chinnaraj Joseph JaikumarFounder Director
Madurai Media and Film Studies Academy in sum, is an experimental platform for teachers and learners in film making.
The popular idea of joining a film institute normally is to get trained quickly in filmmaking, and join the mainstream industry. This notion is largely derived from the entertainment and commercial ideas that have dominated filmmaking ever since its inception. At the same time, ‘alternative – filmmaking’ is also as old as mainstream filmmaking. Its earliest and explicit expression we see, in French avant- garde movement of 1920’s.
What do we mean here at MMFSA as alternative filmmaking? First, it means taking filmmaking as a serious art – as serious as any classical art. This calls for reflective understanding of different filmmaking traditions and their attendant aesthetics in order to innovate upon. Second, film as a narrative tool carries the best of potentials to transform this world in which we live.
This inevitably takes us to another point. Films need not be left in the hands of the ‘industry people’ who care more for box office than anything. It can do wonders in the hands of artists, educators, change makers and for that matter anyone who wants to creatively engage in the art of plurimedial – narration. For the filmmaker of this generation, the greatest boon has come from the digital revolution. Filmmaking is no more a millionaire’s business. Good filmmaking is within the grasp of any individuals who is mindful of the art.
This is what we believe here at MMFSA, and act upon.