The Film Appreciation Society

The Film Appreciation Society (unofficially known as ‘Filmsoc’) was initiated in 2019. The main premise of this project was that there must be a society which caters to studying films in an intellectual manner, reaching into the depths of a character, the social and political impact of a film, the intricacies of the character arcs, the writing, the direction and much more. The current Film Appreciation Society is, in fact, a revival of the original Film Appreciation Society which existed for a short period during 2003-2004 until it unfortunately dissipated. The current revival is at its peak where we screen films of socio-political relevance and impart education by hosting discussions on these issues using the films as a conversation starter. The society's work can be divided into three objectives. The primary aim is to host film screenings on pieces which have socio-political importance and subsequently hold a discussion on it for the audience to engage with the subject at hand. As a secondary objective we hold film showcases or panel discussions with the cast and crew of different productions in order to have an interactive session with the makers directly. As a tertiary objective, the society provides its social media domains as a publishing platform for the students to display their own works in various forms such as film reviews and analysis, artworks, etc. The society aims to continue to impart education via the digital art form of films and ignite much needed conversations on social and political issues.

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Ashma Sharma

Office Bearers 2023-24

President: Piyush Kashyap

Vice-President: Subhana Nazif

General Secretary: Ananya Arya, Ajin MV

Creative Head: Ira Kansal, Sreyas Sivaanand

Treasurer: Aditya Jha

Activities at a Glance

In September 2022, the society joined hands with Scribe- The Literary Society and organized a collaborative event called Cineaste, a Film Appreciation Festival. Under the banner of Cineaste, the society screened the following three films:

1) ‘Trans Kashmir’- a film which displays the hardships and the lives of transgenders living in Kashmir. It was followed by a session with the director Surbhi Dewan.

2) ‘Rupposh’- an idiosyncratic family drama directed by Mohd Fehmeed and Zeeshan Amir Khan, which digs into recollection of filial ties in pre- and post- partition period in India. The documentary in its short runtime, digs deep into the lives of three members of a family who constitute a religious minority living in 21st century India. Subsequently there was a discussion with one of the directors, Mohd Fehmeed.

3) ‘Accsex’- a film which explores the notions of social life and sexuality amongst four differently-abled women.

Society Festival

In March 2023, the Society launched its own annual flagship event called ‘The Lumiere Film Festival’ in which they hosted the renowned actor Mr. Adil Hussain as their Guest of Honor for an interactive session and screened various films by independent film makers such as ‘The Weaves of Maheshwar’ which won the national award for best promotional film. The screening was followed by a discussion with its co-directors Nidhi Kamath and Keya Vaswani. There was also a screening of the film, ‘A dog and his Man’ which exposes the brute reality of how private corporations force village residents to relocate once profitable natural resources are found underneath its soil. It was followed by an on-screen interview with its director Siddhartha Tripathy.