Festivals enhance our chances

With ICFFI kicking off on Friday morning, international filmmakers have made a beeline to Hyderabad to screen and market their films. Amidst the hoopla at Prasads IMAX, we caught up with Alvara Urtizberea, the producer of Argentinian kid-friendly film ‘Rodencia and the Princess Tooth’, a strong contender to bag the international animation film. The CG-animated fantasy adventure follows a cold-footed mouse /sorcerer’s apprentice who goes on a mission to discover a magical princess’ tooth and trounce an evil invading rat horde. Expressing his joy that animation has finally been a given separate entry at ICFFI, he says that his film has received acclaimed across the world. “The response in Russia, Korea, Peru, Bolivia, and Canada towards our film has been overwhelming. We’ve screened our film at Shark Film Festival too.”

Stating that filmmaking in Argentina is growing on a considerable note, he points out, “We dish out 100 fiction films per year, unlike India (smiles). Animation films, which are expensive to make, are slowly scaling up the ladder.”

The experience of making the film has been a learning curve for him. “The director and the actors were all from Argentina, but the film’s animation has been done extensively in Peru. We had to train animators to get the required product. Three Indian animators too worked on our film online,” he smiles.

Marketing a children’s film with universal theme is always tough for a filmmaker outside US, he believes. “We have to compete with big films of US. Since they also own the theatres, it would be difficult for us to breach their market. However, as our film has got attention, we will be able to find space to release it across the world,” he says and continues, “Festivals like this would definitely enhance our chances.”

So has he caught any Bollywood films lately? “I have managed to watch few but I remember ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ the most. Bollywood films are very interesting and most films belong to the same genre. It’s fascinating to see so many people throng screens unlike in our place,” he smiles.