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6 4 W o r l d w i d e
(f.l.t.r.) Renos Louka, Hans Salzinger, Shubham Kasera
Presenting the award was Renos Louka,
Group Managing Director of ARRI (UK).
“We work hard to support up-and-coming
filmmakers at ARRI, so the strong focus on
students at Pune mirrors our own philosophy
perfectly,” says Louka. “It is important to
celebrate those whose careers are just
beginning, as well as those who lead the
industry. Shubham will be among the first
to use ARRI’s new-generation digital camera,
reflecting our belief that in order to develop
as filmmakers, students must have access
to the latest professional tools.”
For the 8 th Pune International Film Festival in January 2010, ARRI
sponsored a new award in the student competition – the ARRI Promising
Student Cinematographer Award. In conjunction with Whistling Woods
International – Asia’s largest film, television, animation and media arts
institute – ARRI presented the inaugural award to cinematographer
Shubham Kasera for his work on the short film MAI. His prize will be the
exclusive use of an ARRI ALEXA digital motion picture camera and a full
set of lenses for 150 days over a two-year period.
Student filmmaker wins
a date with ALEXA
Kasera studied at St. Xavier’s college in
Calcutta and worked in advertising as well
as documentary editing before enrolling at
Whistling Woods on a two-year cinematography
course in 2007. “The subject of M AI
really interested me because it had a lot of
scope to try various stocks and lighting
techniques,” he says. “The film is about the
mother-son bond and the sorrow of separation
– once in the past, when the mother
leaves her son to pursue her career, and
Shubham Kasera
then in the present, when she passes away. So
I had the opportunity to create two different
looks, rather than just one, which meant I was
able to experiment. For the past I went for a
slightly grainy look and shot with an older
Kodak stock – the 5279 500T. The past was
given a slight yellowish tint and a bluish tint
was given to the present-day scenes, many
of which take place in a hospital.”
When asked how he intends to use his prize,
Kasera reveals that he has plenty of ideas
and ambition. “We’re scripting a couple of
feature film concepts, so our goal is to shoot
a full feature in the time we have with the
ALEXA,” he says. “Having the camera is
going to be very helpful for raising additional
finance because it shows that we already
have ARRI supporting the project.”
Ravi Gupta, Executive Director of Whistling
Woods International, states: “Whistling
Woods welcomes ARRI as its partner in the
Student Film Competition. We are proud to
be associated with ARRI in their quest of
providing high quality, high definition
cameras to the filmmaking world and hope
that Shubham enjoys the benefits of the
highly advanced ARRI camera to the fullest.”
Mark Hope-Jones