New Delhi: With a number of debutant filmmakers figuring in the Indian Panorama section of the 34th International Film Festival of India currently underway in the capital, the event has turned out to be a leap into the big league for many talented newcomers.

There are six first-time feature film efforts and an equal number of directorial debuts in the short film category of the Indian Panorama.

While inclusion of his first full-length feature film 'Bhavum' has come as a "big surprise" for NRI (Non- Resident Indian) filmmaker Satish Menon, who has made short films in the past, he says the recognition the film has received would help him in finding funds for his next venture. Menon, who was an Environmental Engineer in the US before turning to filmmaking, poured in all his savings to make his debut feature.

'Bhavum', made in Malayalam, was shot in Kerala and is different from the trend of NRI films in telling the story of an urban couple in his native state and not about the experiences of the "American-Born Confused Desi".

About what made him switch from the short film genre to feature films, Menon says he had always wanted to make features and once he gained confidence as a filmmaker having made a number of short films, he decided to try his hand at a feature film.

'Mouni', the debut feature film of B S Lingadevaru, a pharmacist by training but who has made a name for himself in the TV scene in Karnataka, is also part of the Panorama. "I have made TV serials for 13 years and felt now was the time I should move to making films," says 35-year-old Lingadevaru.

"This is my first film festival as filmmaker and hence it feels special," he said, adding he is hopeful the festival would be helpful to him for his future films.

Calling it the best encouragement that a newcomer can hope for, Wrik Basu, the director of '00:00', a short film in English, says it is still more of a learning experience for him. A final year student of the direction course at the Film and Television Institute, Basu says he is not very satisfied with his visual conception and the sound quality of the film.

The selection of films by newcomers like him will go a long way in encouraging them and shaping their career, he says.

The young filmmakers though hope that screening of the debuts in the festival would not typecast their films as "art" films and scare away prospective financiers and audiences.

"There is a general feeling that if a film has won awards, then it is what is called an 'art film'. And from what I know, such films have problems getting distributed and even TV channels shy away from showing them," says Menon.

"I want audiences to come and experience my films, and somewhere down the line I hope to bridge the gap between art and commerce," he says.

Lingadevaru too doesn't want his films to be labelled as either "mainstream" or "art". "I do not believe in the categorisation of films into 'mainstream' and 'art'. A film is either good or bad," he says.