Premendra Mazumder

Premendra Mazumder is a Film Society Activist, Film Critic, Curator, Film Festival Expert and Author. He started his journey as the film society activist in 1977 and worked from its grass root level to apex level for more than four decades. Presently he is holding the posts of the Vice President of the Federation of Film Societies of India and Asia Pacific Secretary of the International Federation of Film Societies.

Premendra Mazumder
Born	1956 Kolkata
Occupation	Film Critic - Curator - Festival Advisor. Secretary, Fipresci-India. Editor, E-CineIndia. Vice President, Federation of Film Societies of India. Secretary-Asia-Pacific, International Federation of Film Societies. Coordinator, South Asian Short Film Festival. Program Director, Third Eye Asian Film Festival Mumbai.
Years active	1977 – present

He works as the jury member, advisor, curator, consultant, programmer and correspondent for several film festivals in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, USA and Canada.

He is writing on cinema since 1980 and joined the India Chapter of the International Federation of Film Critics- FIPRESCI in 2000. Presently he is holding the posts of the General Secretary of FIPRESCI-India and the Editor of FIPRESCI-India's Quarterly Film Journal E-CineIndia (ISSN.2582-2500).

He has traveled extensively in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, South Korea, China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Tatarstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kurdistan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Iraq, Canada, Brazil and other countries on different assignments on Cinema.

He has served as JURY Member in several international film festivals like Busan International Film Festival South Korea, Cairo International Film Festival, Ismailia International Festival for Documentary & Short Films Egypt, Regard: Saguenay International Short Film Festival Canada, Slemani International Film Festival Kurdistan Iraq, Kara Film Festival Karachi, Shaken's Stars Almaty, Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Evora International Film Festival for Shorts & Documentaries FIKE Portugal, Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema Russia, Nepal International Film Festival, Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival, Jaffna International Cinema Festival Sri Lanka, Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image MAMI, Mumbai International Film Festival MIFF, International Film Festival of Kerala, Bengaluru International Film Festival, Hyderabad International Film Festival, Jeevika Asian Livelihood Documentary Competition Delhi, SiGNS Film Festival Kerala, Aurangabad International Film Festival, Thrissur International Film Festival and several others.

Besides jury assignments he also participated many international conferences to speak on Indian Cinemas and Indian Film Industry.[1]

Attended the General Assemblies of the International Federation of Film Societies in Italy for consecutive five years from 2003 to 2007 as the Special Representative. Also attended the General Assembly of the International Federation of Film Societies in Recife, Brazil in Dec 2010 and elected first time as the Secretary of the Asian Region of the International Federation of Film Societies.

Presented the key-note address on ‘Globalization and Cinema’ at the Seminar of the International Film Festival of Bangladesh Dhaka in Sept 2003.

Attended interactive sessions for promotion of cinema with the filmmakers of Mongolia and Ulaanbaatar City Government at Ulaanbaatar Film Festival, Mongolia in Apr 2005.

Participated as Speaker in the Seminar on ‘Human Rights and Cinema’ at Cairo International Film Festival in Nov 2008.

As a guest faculty attended the International Film Workshop of Nepal in Kathmandu and Dolakha in Feb 2012.

Delivered Lecture in the International Workshop for the Promotion of Myanmar Cinema in Yangon in Dec 2012.

Participated as the speaker in the National Seminars on Cinema & Society at Dibrugarh University in March 2012 and at Siliguri College in March 2013 both sponsored by the University Grants Commission (India).

As a Special Invitee attended Eurasia International Film Festival Almaty Kazakhstan in Sept 2007, Cairo International Film Festival in Nov 2012, Alexandria International Film Festival in April 2018 and Golden Rooster Awards Festival Xiamen China in Nov 2019.

He delivered a Lecture on ‘Image of Women in Indian Cinema’ in Subversive Festival Zagreb, Croatia in May 2011 where he also participated in the panel discussion on Indian Cinema and contributed several articles on Indian Cinemas including the theme article on the ‘Impact of Radical Political Movements on Indian Cinema’.

Participated the Celebration Ceremony of 100 Years of Indian Cinema as Speaker in Zagreb and Split at Croatia in May 2013 in collaboration with the Indian Embassy in Croatia.

Participated the First International Film Critics Week as its Curator of Cairo International Film Festival in Nov 2014.

He spoke in the Seminars on ‘Politics of Cinema and Social Dynamics’ and ‘Trends in South Asian Independent Cinema’ in Kathmandu on the occasion of the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival in Dec 2015.

Participated the Asian Film Critics Conference in Dhaka International Film Festival in Jan 2018 and Jan 2019.

Delivered Lecture on ‘Indian Cinema: Bollywood & Beyond’ in the Film Market of the Eurasia International Film Festival at Astana, Kazakhstan in July 2018.

Presented Indian Cinema section in the Carthage Film Festival Tunisia in Nov 2018 hosted by the Indian Embassy in Tunisia and spoke in the seminars on Indian Cinema in the Manouba University, Tunisia [2].

He conducted a four-days workshop on cinema in Kabul, Afghanistan in first week of July 2019 and also conducted another three-days workshop on cinema in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in last week of July 2019.

Participated seminars, symposiums, workshops, discussions in Chennai International Film Festival, Third Eye Asian Film Festival Mumbai, Bengaluru International Film Festival, Hyderabad International Film Festival, Assam International Film Festival, Guwahati International Film Festival, Kalinga International Film Festival, Kashmir World Film Festival, Bodhisattava International Film Festival and others.

Inaugurated many film festivals. film events and film societies,[3][4][5] during last two decades.

Writings on Cinema

Premendra Mazumder is the Editor of the English Quarterly Online Film Journal E-CineIndia (ISSN.2582-2500)[6] published by FIPRESCI-India[7]

He has authored, contributed, edited and co-edited the following Publications on Cinema:

• Author : Hundred Years of Indian Cinema (Bengali, Kolkata, 1996)
• Contributor and Member of the Editorial Board : Dictionnaire du cinéma asiatique [8] published by the Nouveau Monde Editions Paris, Oct 2008.
• Contributor : 'Indian Film Culture' [9] Mumbai, 2010
• Contributor : Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas (chapter titled, 'Music in Mainstream Indian Cinema') [10][11][12] London, April 2013.
• Editor : The Poet of Celluloid - Life and works of the master film maker Buddhadeb Dasgupta Kolkata, Feb 2014.
• Executive-Editor : 'Indian Film Culture: Indian Cinema' Published by Federation of Film Societies of India Kolkata, Sept 2016.

His thoughts on cinema have been published in various film magazines, daily newspapers and periodicals like:

• Positif, Paris [13]
• Cinema : Portugal.
• Film Realm : Arabic, Cairo.
• Cinesith : English, Colombo.
• Cinemaya : English Quarterly, Delhi.
• Filmbuff : Online English Film Journal, Kolkata [14]
• Deep Focus : English Quarterly, Bangalore
• DNA : English Daily, Mumbai[15]
• Screen : English, Mumbai.
• Chitrabhavna : Bengali Film Journal, Kolkata
• Chitralipi : Bengali Film Journal, Kolkata
• Ei Samay Sangbadpatra, Bengali Daily, Kolkata
• Nabapatrika - Ekdin: Bengali Daily, Kolkata.
• Bixoy Cinema, Assamese, Guwahati.
• Rupwani : Marathi, Mumbai.

Other Publications

Other than cinema he also writes on other various issues including creative writings like essays, plays and stories. He has Authored/Edited following Books and Journals:

• Author : Prekshapat - Collection of Essays on Socio Political issues in Bengali (Kolkata, 1994)
• Author : Samay Ashamayer Natak - Collection of Plays in Bengali (Kolkata, 2005)
• Editor : Loukik Udyan (Bengali Literary Journal. Kolkata 1994 to 2000)

His following plays were staged by a couple of Kolkata based theater groups from 2002 onward:

• Hanuman Charit : 1st staged on 1 April 2002 at Muktangan, Kolkata by Ritwik South
• Ichchhepuraan : 1st staged on 9 October 2002 at Madhusudan Mancha, Kolkata by Ritwik South
• Neel Darja : 1st staged on 23 October 2002 at Sisir Mancha, Kolkata by Sheemantika
• Mrittika : 1st staged on 14 December 2004 at Girish Mancha, Kolkata by Sheemantika

Offices Held

• General Secretary (2019-contd) : FIPRESCI-India FIPRESCI[16]
• Editor (2019-contd) : E-CineIndia FIPRESCI[17]
• Vice President (2018-contd) : Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI)[18]
• Secretary (2019-contd) : Asia-Pacific Chapter of International Federation of Film Societies (IFFS)
• Secretary (2008-contd) : Indian Film Critics Association (IFCA)
• Program Director (2015-contd) : Third Eye Asian Film Festival Mumbai [19]
• Festival Coordinator (2016-contd) : South Asian Short Film Festival [20]
• Advisor (2018-contd) : Nepal International Film Festival[21]
• Chairman of EC (2017-Contd) : Kalinga Global Film Festival[22]
• President (2006-2019) : Film Critics Circle of India (FCCI)
• Secretary (2010-2012) : Asian Chapter of International Federation of Film Societies (IFFS)[23]
• Vice President (2012-2014) : Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI)
• General Secretary (2014-2016) : Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI)

Festival Participation on Assignments

• International Festival of Film Societies and General Assembly of the International Federation of Film Societies as Special Representative (Reggio Calabria, Italy, June 2003)
• International Film Festival of Bangladesh as Speaker in the International Seminar (Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sept 2003)
• International Festival of Film Societies and General Assembly of the International Federation of Film Societies as Special Representative (Reggio Calabria, Italy, June 2004)
• Jeevika Livelihood Documentary Competition as JURY Member (New Delhi, India, Dec 2004)
• Mumbai International Film Festival by Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image MAMI as JURY Member[24] MAMI (Mumbai, India, Jan 2005)
• Ulaanbaatar Film Festival as Speaker in Interactive Session (UB City, Mongolia, Apr 2005)
• International Festival of Film Societies and General Assembly of the International Federation of Film Societies as Special Representative (Pizzo Calabro, Italy, June 2005)
• Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films as JURY Member[25] MIFF (Mumbai, India, Feb 2006)
• International Festival of Film Societies and General Assembly of the International Federation of Film Societies as Special Representative (Matera, Italy, June 2006)
• Kara Film Festival as JURY Member (Karachi, Pakistan, Dec 2006)
• Eurasia International Film Festival as Special Invitee (Almaty, Kazakhstan, Sept 2007)
• International Festival of Film Societies and General Assembly of the International Federation of Film Societies as Special Representative (Matera, Italy, June 2007)
• Hyderabad International Film Festival as JURY Member (Hyderabad, India, Jan 2008)
• Ismailia International Festival for Documentary & Short Films as JURY Member (Ismailia, Egypt, Oct 2008)
• Cairo International Film Festival as Speaker in the Seminar[26] (Cairo, Egypt, Nov 2008)
• Jeevika Asian Livelihood Documentary Competition as JURY Member[27] (New Delhi, India, Aug 2010)
• Short & Documentary Film Festival Hyderabad as JURY Member (Hyderabad, India, Sept 2010)
• General Assembly of the International Federation of Film Societies in Brazil as the Official Representative of the Federation of Film Societies of India (Recife Brazil Dec 2010).
• Subversive Festival as Speaker in the Seminar of Film Festival[28] (Zagreb, Croatia, May 2011)
• International Film Workshop of Nepal as Guest faculty (Kathmandu and Dolakha, Nepal, Feb 2012)
• Shaken's Stars International Film Festival Almaty as JURY Member[29] (Almaty, Kazakhstan, May 2012)
• Abu Dhabi Film Festival UAE as JURY Member[30] (Abu Dhabi, UAE, Oct 2012)
• Cairo International Film Festival as Special Invitee (Cairo, Egypt, Nov 2012)
• International Workshop for the Promotion of Myanmar Cinema as Speaker (Yangon, Myanmar, Dec 2012)
• Celebration of 100 Years of Indian Cinema hosted by the Indian Embassy in Croatia as Speaker[31] (Zagreb and Split, Croatia, May 2013)
• Evora International Film Festival for Shorts & Documentaries FIKE as JURY Member[32] (Evora, Portugal, Oct 2013)
• Cairo International Film Festival International Film Critics Week as Curator[33] (Cairo, Egypt, Nov 2014)
• Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival as JURY Member[34][35] (Kathmandu, Nepal, Dec 2015)
• Regard: Saguenay International Short Film Festival as JURY Member[36][37] (Quebec City, Canada, March 2016)
• SiGNS Film Festival as JURY Member[38] (Cochin, India, Sept 2016)
• Cairo International Film Festival Cairo International Critics Week as JURY Member [39] (Cairo, Egypt, Nov 2016)
• Jaffna International Cinema Festival as JURY Member[40] (Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Sept 2017)
• Busan International Film Festival as JURY Member[41] (Busan, Korea, Oct 2017)
• Dhaka International Film Festival as Speaker in the Asian Film Critics Conference[42] (Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan 2018)
• Bengaluru International Film Festival as JURY Member[43] (Bangalore, India, Feb 2018)
• Ismailia International Festival for Documentary & Short Films as JURY Member[44] (Ismailia, Egypt, Apr 2018)
• Alexandria International Film Festival as Special Invitee (Alexandria, Egypt, April 2018)
• Slemani International Film Festival as JURY Member[45] (Slemania, Kurdistan, Iraq, Oct 2018)
• Eurasia International Film Festival as Speaker in Seminar in Film Market[46] (Astana, Kazakhstan, July 2018)
• Carthage Film Festival as Presenter of Indian Cinema Section hosted by the Indian Embassy in Tunisia[47] (Carthage, Tunisia, Nov 2018)
• Third Eye Asian Film Festival as JURY Member[48] (Mumbai, India, Dec 2018)
• Dhaka International Film Festival as Speaker in the Asian Film Critics Conference[49] (Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan 2019)
• Nepal International Film Festival as JURY Member[50] (Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb 2019)
• Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema as Film Market Preaching JURY[51] (Kazan, Russia, April 2019)
• Conducted a 04-Days Workshop on Cinema in Kabul Afghanistan in 1st week of July 2019
• Conducted a 03-Days Workshop on Cinema in Dushanbe Tajikistan in last week of July 2019.
• Golden Rooster Awards Festival as Special Invitee (Xiamen, China, Nov 2019)
• International Film Festival of Kerala as JURY Member[52] (Trivandrum, India, Dec 2019)
• Kalinga Global Film Festival as JURY Member[53] (Bhubaneswar, India, Jan 2020)
• Aurangabad International Film Festival as JURY Member[54] (Aurangabad, India, Feb 2020)
• Thrissur International Film Festival as JURY Member[55] (Thrissur, India, Mar 2020)

References

1. "Festivals bring short films back in limelight - Times of India". indiatimes.com.
2. {{https://www.embassyofindiatunis.gov.in/gallery-09-11-2018.php}}
3. Trade, TI. "The Assam Tribune Online". assamtribune.com.
4. "Assam international film festival kicks off in Jorhat college - Times of India". indiatimes.com.
5. "Bengali film fest to screen films from India, Bangladesh - Times of India". indiatimes.com.
6. {{http://www.fipresci-india.online/e-cine-india}}
7. {{http://www.fipresci-india.online}}
8. "Dictionnaire du cinéma asiatique".
9. "Indian Film Culture 15th Edition August 2010.pdf". google.com.
10. Gokulsing, K. Moti; Dissanayake, Wimal (17 April 2013). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. ISBN 9781136772917 – via Google Books.
11. "Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas (Hardback) - Routledge". routledge.com.
12. {{https://www.amazon.in/Routledge-Handbook-Indian-Cinemas-Handbooks/dp/1138311480}}
13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. {{http://www.filmbuff.co.in/}}
15. "'Tagore was inescapable' - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dnaindia.com. 11 August 2006.
16. {{http://www.fipresci-india.online}}
17. {{http://www.fipresci-india.online/e-cine-india}}
18. "Federation of Film Societies of India". ffsi.online.
19. http://www.asianfilmfestival.in. Missing or empty |title= (help)
20. "South Asian Short Film Festival". sasff.online.
21. {{http://niff.org.np/about-niff/}}
22. {{https://kgff.in/}}
23. "IFFS - International Federation of Film Societies". ficc.info.
24. "Kinema : : A Journal for Film and Audiovisual Media".
25. "MIFF'2006 Jury".
26. {{https://www.ciff.org.eg/}}
27. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
28. {{https://subversivefestival.com/}}
29. "Reviews, opinions-Kyrgyz Cinema".
30. http://www.abudhabifilmfestival.ae/en/Press/press-releases/2012/2012-10-19-ADFF-Unveils-Winners-of-2012-Black-Pearl-FIPRESCI-and-NETPAC-Awards%7Ctitle=ADFF Unveils Winners of 2012 Black Pearl, FIPRESCI and NETPAC Awards
31. http://www.indija.hr/spaw2/uploads/files/100%20godina%20indiskog%20filma%20knjizica%20KB%20web-2.pdf
32. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
33. {{https://www.ciff.org.eg/}}
34. "KIMFF kicks off with 'unbroken spirit' - The Himalayan Times". thehimalayantimes.com. 11 December 2015.
35. "KIMFF is back with 'unbroken spirit'". myrepublica.com.
36. "Programming". festivalregard.com.
37. "Festival Regard 2016: Rencontre avec David Uloth". cinefilic.com.
38. {{https://www.signsfestival.in/}}
39. {{https://www.ciff.org.eg/}}
40. {{http://jaffnaicf.lk}}
41. {{https://www.biff.kr/eng/}}
42. {{http://www.dhakafilmfestival.org/}}
43. {{https://biffes.in}}
44. {{http://ismailiafilmfest.com/}}
45. {{https://www.slemanifest.com/}}
46. {{https://eiff.kz/eng/home}}
47. {{https://www.jcctunisie.org/eng/}}
48. {{http://www.asianfilmfestival.in}}
49. {{http://www.dhakafilmfestival.org/}}
50. {{http://niff.org.np}}
51. {{http://kazan-mfmk.com/en/}}
52. {{http://iffk.in/}}
53. {{https://kgff.in/}}
54. {{http://www.aifilmfest.in/}}
55. {{https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/english/cinestaan-epaper-cinestan/geetha+j+s+run+kalyani+wins+fipresci+india+award+for+best+debut+film+at+thrissur+festival-newsid-n172274718}}

External links

• Film Critics Circle of India
• Archives of Federation of Film Societies of India
• Premendra Mazumder at FIPRESCI
• South Asian Short Film Festival