Thierry Binisti, tall, handsome and clear-cut in perception. Bernard Nissille, witty, chatty and intellectually of the future. Though Binisti's venture into direction was through the usual path of assisting famous directors of French cinema, Nissille had an unlikely entry via the realm of acting. In fact Nissille's short film, The Bear or A Passion for Acting was rich in autobiographical strain as it depicted the struggle of a novice and at times how the character got into the psyche of the person. ``In France, short films are a way to progress onto feature films. For we learn the theory and the technique and it is not easy to make a short film for you have to convey everything in the briefest time,'' Nissille noted. Binisti chipped in to say that now, due to the popularity of the format, many big directors also tried out their hand at this new-found medium. ``The short film has become a genre now. There are different types, varying from five to 25 minutes of duration, with proper beginning, end and astoryline''.

Chatting with them, one gets the story of the short films too. It originated out of the youngsters' compulsion as they found it difficult to get producers for their debut. Dwelling upon the commercial viability of the medium, Nissille pointed out,``There are 14-15 short film festivals and awards and honours come your way. Moreover TV channels buy the films and even outside there is a market for short films with the result that around 400-500 short films are made every year.'' Now with all the major honours of the world cinema like the Oscar in the United States and the BAFTA in England and the prestigious festivals like the Cannes in France recognising this medium, directors have come a long way. ``The French do not have the kind of patience that the Indian audience has, to sit through three hours of films. The short film appeals to them and it is really interesting,'' remarked Binisti.

But hasn't the Hollywood invasion affected the French film world? Recently the French Minister for Culture had to appoint a team to counter this intrusion of American way of life through their films that unloaded a whole set of paraphernalia like the Disneys, McDonalds and the yet-to-be-explored special effects. ``Yes, it is very hard for us,'' Binisti revealed,``but we try to combat the threat with class films that will take us across the globe.'' But it is not easy for them as the younger generation has declared the French films `boring'.

Nissille intervened to say, ``They find Arnold Shwarzenegger and the dinosaurs of Spielberg more interesting than our realistic depictions of life in its entirety. But we are resistant to it.'' But what is it that does not make French films popular when compared to the Hollywood stuff despite being the founders of cinema? After all it was the French, through Lumiere brothers, who gave us this `seventh art.' They obviously did not like the comparison with their bete noire but formulated their answers in their disarming manner. ``The language factor. People find it easy to understand American English which makes it easier for exporting. Then money: the Americans have lot of money and pump it into the spectacular productions that awe the audience across the world. Whereas we have our limitations but they remake our films for our films have depth''.

But what is the status of the director in French cinema, for you call him an author? Doesn't the producer call the shots as here? ``Cinema is an art and the director an author who `writes' his films. In the days of Godard and Truffaut, they could get a producer with just two lines of story, the gist of it. But nowadays the producers have become more aware of the commercial aspects and dictate terms, though to some extent''.

But the French government is their cinema's best friend as the new crop of directors find it easier to establish in the short film category with the incentives doled out by the government. ``There is a selection committee comprising ten people who decide on the scripts submitted by newcomers. The best scripts bag the grant worth one-two million francs.'' When their attention was drawn to the fact that this much money was paid to an actor in mainstream Hindi cinema, Nissille (basically an actor) commented, ``I would leave my direction and would like to get a role in your Hindi films''.

It was an afternoon well-spent, interacting with the representatives of change. More so, because not much is known about the short films, or for that matter, about the French films altogether in this part of the country.