The Central and state governments should help enhance the creativity and productivity of short film makers in the country by extending financial assistance, as this could inspire a new breed of creative artistes, said seasoned Tamil film director SP Muthuraman.

Inaugurating the Coimbatore edition of the Third Chennai International Short Film Festival (CISFF), organised at the Dr GR Damodaran College of Science, in association with Chennai Academy of Motion Picture, the film-maker, who has made over 70 films in three decades, said that short films are here to stay and the new genre is a visual substitute for literary short stories.

“It is a growing new genre and it can be made by any film buff with the help of a good mobile phone at relatively no cost, whereas feature films are made with huge investment and involves multiple risk factors,” he said. The short film makers should handle good social themes and they should reflect societal concerns and maladies in their films, he advised, adding that short films could lead the way to features for aspiring film-makers.

Sreenivasan Santhanam, the festival director and trustee o f the Chennai Academy of Motion Picture, said that the younger generation should enter and infuse new ideas into the industry.

S Kannan, President of CISFF said that the short film festival is a unique idea, which was in incubation stage for long before it was made a reality. “With the widespread availability of technology, a good concept and team work, short film makers can venture into new territories to compete with the world,” he said.

The official entries for CISFF have been growing year after year; the first year saw 1,200 entries, this edition has received 4,000. “It was pretty arduous task to filter it down to 200 films,” said Kannan.

Shanthi Vijaya, deputy director of CISFF (Coimbatore chapter), said, “The film festival has literally come to our doorsteps. We would encourage students to watch good films to become good creators themselves.”

Geetha Padmanabhan, Secretary, T Shantha, Principal of the college, and Dr Radha, HOD of the Department of Visual Communication also spoke on the occasion.

About 120 short films from 60 countries will be screened in the festival, between November 2 and 4. Entry is free.