Visible and available

Shopping for movies is easy enough, but purchasing a documentary can be a very difficult exercise.

Only a handful of stores in metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai sell documentaries, while the rest of the unfortunates who live in the non-metros have to make do with swiping their credit or debit cards on websites like iTokri or corresponding directly with film-makers. The two major websites for buying documentaries for several months was www.synclinefilmstore.com, through which the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, or PSBT (www.psbt.org), sold its productions, and www.ucfilms.in (MLF’s Under Construction), which stocked films distributed by the non-profit Magic Lantern Foundation (MLF). Both websites suspended sales a few months ago. PSBT now sells its DVDs through alternative stores and websites like iTokri and MediaOne HD (www.mediaonehd.in), while Magic Lantern Foundation (MLF) is finally back in business, with a new title, Magic Lantern Movies (www.magiclanternmovies.in), and more titles than before.

The Under Construction website was taken down in November because of changes in tax laws that debarred non-profit organizations from conducting sales, explains MLF director Gargi Sen. “We had to change our legal entity to Magic Lantern Movies,” says Sen, whose organization also produces documentaries. Each and every contract had to be renegotiated, but the terms of profit-sharing stay the same as before—the film-maker keeps 60% of sale money. Apart from reappearing in the virtual universe, Magic Lantern also hopes to get back into stores in the real world over the next few months.

However, buyers visiting Magic Lantern Movies won’t be able to use their credit or debit cards. It is very expensive to set up card payment facilities on the website, Sen says. Buyers will have to make payments to a Magic Lantern Movies account in Delhi through a cheque, demand draft, or a wire transfer.

Magic Lantern Movies sells MLF productions and documentaries by Indian and foreign film-makers. The new-look site has trailers attached to the description of each title. The big difference between the old website and the new one is that “we have many more movies, and many more are going to be added”, Sen says. The earlier emphasis on showcasing independent Indian documentary has given way to a broader embrace of all manifestations of the film-making form. That’s why series on the Indian diaspora and Central Asia that were commissioned by the public diplomacy division of the ministry of external affairs are part of the same shopping basket that yields Children of the Pyre, Rajesh S. Jala’s disturbing exposé of child workers on the ghats of Varanasi; I’m the Very Beautiful, Shyamal Karmakar’s provocative exploration of the life of a bar singer, or Nakul Singh Sawhney’s Izzatnagari ki Asabhya Betiyaan (or Immoral Daughters), about honour killings in Haryana.

Before distribution avenues like the MLF were created, documentary film-makers would sell copies directly to individuals and organizations. Some enterprising film-makers carried along copies to screenings, while others sold their produce through websites. E-commerce websites like Magic Lantern and iTokri are a boon for those who want their work to be both visible and available. Magic Lantern Movies contracts with the directors are not exclusive, which means that they can continue to sell their films directly to buyers. “Such websites help film-makers with visibility—they are a continuation of the work that film-makers have been doing on their own for years,” Sen says.

To buy documentary films, visit www.magiclanternmovies.in, www.itokri.com and www.mediaonehd.in, and for a list of stores where PSBT DVDs can be bought from, visit www.psbt.org.