21st edition of BYOFF begins in Puri

Puri: The 21st edition of Bring Your Own Film Festival (BYOFF) inaugurated in Puri sea beach on Wednesday

The five day annual event held during February 21st to 25th every year on Puri beach. In the festival more than 60 films of National and International level will be screened

Puri is a famous heritage and temple town in Odisha (Orissa), Eastern India. To call BYOFF just a film festival is to limit its unique magical quality said Susant Mishra founder of BYOFF.

It’s a festival without hierarchy, competition, juries and awards. Where not only filmmakers but also artists from other disciplines like music, theatre, painting, sculpture, dance, literature and photography are encouraged to participate and show their work.

In short, BYOFF can be best described as an informal and intimate gathering of artists with films in the backdrop where screenings go on early into the morning hours- first, inside make-shift tents and then in the open air after sun down.

For filmmakers, it has been an alternative platform ever since its first edition in the year 2004.

The idea is to have a festival away from the oppressive atmosphere of bureaucratic control of big cities and where just about anybody – with or without films – could participate. The participants of BYOFF themselves are the volunteers and the organizers of its future editions.

And the mood of the festival is that of a no holds barred carnival where the sea and its sand provide the right ambience to lift the spirits of every one present