FilmBay: Mumbai to welcome space for art-house, indie cinema

As a step towards promoting independent and art-house cinema, apart from documentaries which stand a dim chance of getting a traditional commercial release, Mumbai is gearing up to welcome FilmBay, a unique initiative by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

To be spearheaded by filmmaker Kiran Rao as its creative director, FilmBay will be launched by 2015 end, said a statement.

"It has long been my dream to have a space for cinema as art, where one can experience and engage in different ways with a diverse and challenging array of films, and Filmbay is that dream coming true," said Rao, who had lent support to Anand Gandhi's independent film "Ship Of Theseus".

Names like Anupama Chopra, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Rohan Sippy will bring in their collective expertise to make the film centre a diverse, eclectic hub for debate and discussion.

A collaboration between NFDC and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), FilmBay will be based at an existing theatre at Sherly Rajan village, Bandra (W), which will be completely revamped by NFDC and will be equipped with an exhibition hall, a 100-seater digital cinema, a reading and research library, a bookshop and a cafeteria.

Rao has thanked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for helping them find an "ideal space".

"Mumbai, with its 100 year history of film, deserves a space for the encouragement and celebration of cinema, and through an eclectic film programme as well as a library and archive, we hope to further the conversation around cinema both for the film professional and the film enthusiast," she added.

FilmBay has been given on lease to NFDC by the MCGM for a period of 30 years from January 2, 2015, to exhibit films along with educational and promotional activities for the growth of cinema.

Further, the Centre will also emerge as a hub for the film fraternity and cinephiles to interact and share film wisdom. The Centre will also aim to hold special screenings for children from municipal schools to enhance their vision for good cinema.

In addition to the members of the film fraternity, the board will also have two representatives of NFDC and one from MCGM.

Nina Lath Gupta, managing director, NFDC India, said: "The Filmbay in Mumbai is a natural corollary to NFDC's endeavour to facilitate the growth of the good cinema movement in India.

"This multi-faceted initiative, a brainchild of Kiran Rao, supports NFDC's intent of pursuing innovative methods of exhibiting and making accessible diverse filmic content to a larger audience base, thus promoting India's vibrant cinematic movement."