The Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata, has made it to the final nominations of the 12th National Science Film Festival of India with a documentary on C.V. Raman.
Characterizing Colour: Sir C.V Raman at Work, produced by BITM, has been nominated in the Interface category for films funded or made by governmental/non-governmental organisations and institutions at the annual festival held by Vigyan Prasar, a unit of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. This year’s festival will be held in Bhopal from August 22 to 26.
The 15-minute film, initially released on the occasion of National Science Day on February 28, 2021, showcases Raman’s iconic experiment with light to determine properties of objects called the Raman effect. National Science Day is celebrated to commemorate this discovery.
‘’It feels worth the effort we had put in. From in-house researching of story, to content development, scripting and on-location-shooting at BITM, Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration and Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS); to scholars from the IACS opening up their archives and laboratories for us; to the wonderful aid rendered by the technical team at iLead for cinematography and editing; the documentary was a collaborative effort and an experiment of sorts that went alright together!’’ said BITM director Subhabrata Chaudhuri.
The film was shot in the first laboratory site where C.V. Raman worked on the Raman effect experiment Photograph: BITM, Kolkata
The entire production took about a week, including pre-production, outdoor shoots and editing. The film was shot in the first laboratory site where Raman worked on the experiment, now part of the Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration and at The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, whose senior scientists not only opened their laboratory but also spoke about the experiment.
The documentary has already received two official selections at the Goethe-Institut Science Film Festival 2021 and the 7th International Science Film Festival of India 2021.
‘Characterizing Colour: Sir C.V. Raman at Work’ has already received two official selections at two film festivals Photograph: BITM, Kolkata
BITM, a unit of the National Council of Science Museums, Union Ministry of Culture, has been instrumental in using innovative methods to take scientific education to the masses. ‘’Films are an excellent media to appeal to veterans as well as the tech-savvy younger generation. They have an appeal that transcends age, language, nationality and even generations. They are perhaps the best educational tool we have on our hands today. BITM has been relentlessly engaged in communicating science in all its forms and we are always on the look-out for an opportune occasion to get the camera rolling! Surely, we will be willing to work on another educational presentation in the near future,” Chaudhuri said.
The documentary has been screened in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and can be seen on YouTube.