Remains of the day: Udeshna cinema, which was forced to shut down last year because of poor business. Picture by Eastern Projections

June 11: The Assamese film industry has always been plagued with one problem or the other during the past seven decades of its existence.

But film activists have always showed grit and determination in overcoming the odds and often succeeded in bailing it out of crisis situations.

Even now, when the industry is facing one of its worst crises, a group of filmmakers and activists has joined hands with the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association, Calcutta, to launch a movement to save it from silent death.

The city, the hub of Assamese film industry, will be the starting point of their movement.

As part of the save-Assamese-film-industry mission, the Calcutta-based association will organise a digital workshop at Vandana theatre hall tomorrow.

“The target of the movement is not only to save the crisis-ridden film industry, but also to find an alternative medium to carry on the rich legacy of Assamese cinema. The workshop on digital cinema is an attempt to find an alternative medium of cinema,” said Manju Bora, a national award winning filmmaker and chairman of the association’s joint advisory committee.

“Celluloid cannot be replaced by any medium. But digital films have the potential to fill up the void the former has left. As budget has always been one of the main constraints for filmmakers, the low-cost digital cinema can be a feasible alternative. Technically, it offers a wide canvas for experiment and innovation,” added Bora.

The workshop will be conducted by some of the best-known technicians from Mumbai and Chennai film industries.

They will offer tips to Assamese film industry’s technicians, distributors, producers, directors and artists about digital filmmaking and promoting the medium in every corner of the state.

Anupam Saikia and Giri Khurana from Mumbai as well as Subramanium Ramesh V, Ramesh Venkatachalam and Lakshmi S.G. from Chennai have already given their consent to attend the workshop.

“From the very basics of making digital cinema to its promotion and distribution, the workshop will deal with every detail of the medium. It will also clear many myths regarding digital cinema,” said another member of the association.

“We are also trying to rope in more and more talented young filmmakers to digital cinema-making. Making films is not enough. We have to create a market for them. For this, we require small theatres to screen these small-budget films. Once we have such mini halls across the state with good infrastructure, screening will not be an issue,” he added.

The Assam Institute of Management (AIM) last year conducted the first scientific study on the feasibility and revival of film exhibition business in the state.

The survey clearly indicated that half of the cinema halls in the state have been shut down because of poor business, while the rest of them failed to attract audience owing to poor infrastructure.

The report also said the government needed to address major problems like reducing entertainment tax and promulgating laws to curb video piracy, which have hit the industry hard.