Dev Benegal

One of my scripts has been selected for the eQuinoxe workshop. I’ll be in Paris for a week. Don’t know the program as yet but will try and post from there. Though the idea of hitting the net after a days workshop which will definitely involve a lot of writing is not my idea of fun.

There’ll be an accompanying book to Road, Movie with the same title. It’ll have photographs of my research trip. The big question looming now is: should I go digital or stay analog.

The jury is still out over whether to shoot for a book using the Nikon D70 or a Nikon with Kodak 35mm negative. I have my old Nikon FM2 with some really good lenses and a Nikon F80 with the bundle of lenses that came with it. That’s two bodies and four lenses.

Looks like I might stay with that, shoot negative and get Comart to do a drum scan of them.

On iTunes: Sunday Morning from the album “Songs About Jane” by Maroon 5

We spent time with Anoop Talkies. I’m writing a small note. I stumbled into another world of audiences, reception, film tastes and even show timings. That’s what makes the touring cinema so unique and different from regular film going. Anoop did say something: “people don’t come here to eat popcorn,” I tried selling popcorn but no body was buying. All they wanted was to stare at the images.”

Until then here is an image. If you want to see more please visit the Tropicfilm Gallery.

We completed out recce. It was fabulous. But the Nikon D100 doesn’t connect to the Mac. After trying, texting Farrukh Chothia who then called back suggesting a restart nothing worked and it was back to the old faithfuls: the Nikon FM2 which had 400ASA film and the Nikon F80.

There’ll be an accompanying book to Road, Movie with the same title. It’ll have photographs of your research trip. The big question looming now is: should I go digital or stay analog.

The jury is still out over whether to shoot for a book using the Nikon D70 or a Nikon with Kodak 35mm negative. I have my old Nikon FM2 with some really good lenses and a Nikon F80 with the bundle of lenses that came with it. That’s two bodies and four lenses.

Looks like I might stay with that, shoot negative and get Comart to do a drum scan of them.

On iTunes: Sunday Morning from the album “Songs About Jane” by Maroon 5

That’s the working title of our next film. Keep your eyes peeled. In the next few weeks you’ll see some photographs and more information about it.

Currently playing in iTunes: Devil Got My Woman by Skip James

On of my favorite films: much misunderstood is the moody Black & White jewel Radio On. It haunted me when I saw it first on screen at the Indian International Film Festival, Bangalore, 1980

I didn’t realise that years later I would cross paths with Chris Petit. More on that remarkable director and writer in another blog.
But in the meanwhile here’s something from the Guardian.
More about Radio On

In British cinema history, Chris Petit’s gloomily beautiful road movie Radio On stands alone. There is no other movie like it in the national canon.

Dev Benegal writes about his only guru in cinema the legendary cameraman Subrata Mitra who died December 08, 2001. This is the article which originally appeared in the MidDay, Bombay.

2001. What a year it has been!
George Harrison, Douglas Adams, Subrata Mitra.
Subrata who? Precisely.