The Fifth Kalpanirjhar International Short Fiction Film Festival began at Max Mueller Bhavan on Friday. It will be on till December 11.

“We have selected an exclusive package. Some of the films are incredibly experimental. Short film is an independent expression of cinema but unfortunately it’s not very popular in India. Television should encourage such films,” said film-maker Goutam Ghose, who is part of the Kalpanirjhar festival team.

Apart from 10 films by German film-maker Veit Helmer, several shorts from France and Spain will be screened. Of the 23 entries, only six Indian shorts have found a place at the festival. Two of them — Lal Juto and Chinese Whispers — are by the students of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute.

“The maximum duration for a film to make it to the festival is 30 minutes. This year the longest entry is from Denmark — Amigo, a 28-minute short fiction. The shortest is Fetch from the UK, which is all of one minute 15 seconds,” said S.V. Raman, programme officer at Max Mueller. “There were 12 independent entries from Europe, of which we have chosen only two,” he added.

Screenings are held from 4pm on weekdays and from 2pm on Saturday and Sunday.