New Delhi, Nov 05: Appreciated in film festivals all over the world, documentaries otherwise are dealing with a very cold shoulder indeed, most of them not getting much of a chance to reach audiences, complain filmmakers struggling to keep the alternative genre alive. There are very few avenues of exhibition available for non-feature films, says award-winning film maker Arun Khopkar, bitterly noting that documentaries or even short features are like "illegitimate children" compared to mainstream cinema, bound to be sidelined.


Khopkar, whose documentary 'Narayan Gangaram Surve' won the Golden Lotus at the National Film Awards this year, says recognition in the form of awards or inclusion in film festivals is not enough to encourage the makers of such films. "Most of my films have won national awards, but what I am looking for is that people get to see my work and that I get a feedback on how I have fared," says Arvind Sinha, whose latest documentary 'Kaya Poochhe Maya Se', that deals with the many faces and facets of Kolkata's Howrah station, has been selected for screening at the Amsterdam Film Festival.


Sinha has earlier made National Award-winning films like 'Ajit', 'The Recluse' and 'Du Paatan ke Beech Mein'. Going beyond film festivals and reaching wider audiences is what these filmmakers desire, saying television can be of great help by airing their films.

They complain that Doordarshan's decision to stop showing National Award-winning documentaries has come as a big blow to them.

Good work, he says, is being neglected in the country because of ignorance as not many people are getting to see and appreciate it. Bureau Report