BOFTA (Blue Ocean Film & Television Academy) is a film academy that was started to provide quality film and television related education in individual departments such as direction, editing, acting, cinematography, etc. by renowned celebrities of the film industry. The teachers for various departments include people like Nasser, Cheran, Mahendran, Sasi, etc.
On September 8, 2017, Friday, the 2nd year convocation of BOFTA Academy took place successfully, and a lot of celebrities were present at the event. Legendary director Adoor Gopalakrishnan was also invited to felicitate the event, and he had also taken the stage to address one and all.
Among the celebrities who spoke, Actor Nasser said, “It is possible to join a director or a cinematographer as an assistant and then try their chances of making it big. But our BOFTA students are capable of working directly as a director or cinematographer, and such is the training they get here. Nowadays there are lots of platforms to showcase talents, and the reach is also vast.”
Founder and Dean of BOFTA Dhananjayan.G said, “Direction, Cinematography, editing or any department whether they are a weekend or even online students, there is stepwise guidance for the students of BOFTA right from where they get their raw footage ready. The commitment that students or teachers show here is commendable and I am thankful for that!”
Director Bhagyaraj said, “Only some people bring pride to cinema, and one such person is Adoor Gopalakrishnan Sir. When people enter cinema, it is like going into a one-way traffic road because once you love cinema, it is impossible to get out of it. When someone asked me what cinema is, I told them cinema is life. For some people their life itself is cinema, and I honestly believe to succeed here you have to dedicate your life to it.”
The chief guest of the event and legendary director Adoor Gopalakrishnan said, “My life has constantly been in contact with Tamil Nadu and their culture. The best happiness for the masters here would be to see their students excelling in their respective fields. It is very important to give respect to one’s masters and learn the art from them. It is these students’ duty to excel in their fields and make their teachers proud. Cinema is itself undergoing such a big change in such a short time. Most of what we learn comes from your reading other than our valuable personal experiences.”