A. Sreekar Prasad

Akkineni Sreekar Prasad better known as Sreekar Prasad is a National Award winning Film editing professional, known for his works in Indian Cinema. He works on Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese and English films. His last National Film Award for Best Editing was for his work on the feature film Firaaq (2008), directed by Nandita Das. He was included in the Limca Book of Records as People of the Year - 2013 for wide contribution to the Indian cinema in several languages and also for holding a record 8 National Awards including a Special Jury Award.

Career

Sreekar Prasad was a graduate in Literature from University of Madras. He learned the art of film editing from his father in Telugu films. Though he started out with Telugu films, he rose to national acclaim through Malayalam and Tamil films. He has won the National Film Award for Best Editing seven times and owns one Special Jury Award, throughout a career spanning over two decades. Some of the notable editing works of Sreekar Prasad include Yodha (1992), Nirnayam, Vaanaprastham (1999), Alaipayuthey (2000), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Okkadu (2003), Aayitha Ezhuthu and Yuva (2004), Navarasa (2005), Athadu (2005), Guru (2007), Billa (2007), Pazhassi Raja (2009), and Thuppakki (2012).

Mani Ratnam

Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1955), commonly known by his screen name Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Cited by the media as one of India's most acclaimed and influential filmmakers, Mani Ratnam is widely credited with revolutionising the Tamil film industry and altering the profile of Indian cinema. Although working in the mainstream medium, his films are noted for their realism, technical finesse, and craft. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film in 2002.

Despite being born into a film family, Mani Ratnam did not develop any interest towards films when he was young. Upon completion of his post graduation in management, he started his career as a consultant. He entered the film industry through the 1983 Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi. The failure of his subsequent films would mean that he was left with little offers. However, his fifth directorial Mouna Ragam (1986) established him as a leading filmmaker in Tamil cinema. He followed that with the Godfatheresque Nayagan (1987), which is regarded as a cult film over the years. Mani Ratnam is well known for his "Political trilogy" consisting of Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), and Dil Se.. (1998). The commercial and critical success of Roja established him as a leading filmmaker in Indian cinema.

Film festival

A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and domestic releases. Some festivals focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians do not consider Film Festivals as official releases of film, like Jerry Beck. The best known film festivals are the Venice Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival, the latter being the largest film festival worldwide, based on attendance. The Venice Film Festival is the oldest major festival. The Melbourne International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the oldest in the world. A 2013 study found 3,000 active films festivals worldwide—active defined as having held an event in the previous 24 months.

Film editing

Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. The term film editing is derived from the traditional process of working with film, but increasingly involves the use of digital technology.

The film editor works with the raw footage, selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture. Film editing is described as an art or skill, the only art that is unique to cinema, separating filmmaking from other art forms that preceded it, although there are close parallels to the editing process in other art forms such as poetry and novel writing. Film editing is often referred to as the "invisible art" because when it is well-practiced, the viewer can become so engaged that he or she is not even aware of the editor's work. On its most fundamental level, film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a coherent sequence. The job of an editor isn’t simply to mechanically put pieces of a film together, cut off film slates, or edit dialogue scenes. A film editor must creatively work with the layers of images, story, dialogue, music, pacing, as well as the actors' performances to effectively "re-imagine" and even rewrite the film to craft a cohesive whole. Editors usually play a dynamic role in the making of a film. Sometimes, auteurist film directors edit their own films, for example Akira Kurosawa and the Coen Brothers.