Srinagar
Actors Creative Theatre (ACT) is holding the second edition of Kashmir World Film Festival (KWFF) in collaboration with J&K Govt on Wednesday.
The Five day film festival will be held at Tagore Hall in Srinagar from November 1 and will conclude on November 5. Minister for Public Works Naeem Akhtar will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the festival, the organisers said at a press conference in Srinagar.
The festival Director Mustaaque Ali Ahmad khan said that the motive of organizing the festival is to restore the film culture in Kashmir. “It seems that the habit of watching films in the valley is lost. So, we have taken the initiative to set the things back on the track,” he said.
“During the festival, the films from different categories will be screened for the audience that include feature fiction film, short documentary films, short animation films and experimental films,” he said.
The organizers of the festival said that around thirty films in different languages will be screened during the five day festival.
“The Films like Citizen Kane, Angry Men (English) Bicycle Thieves (Italian), Life Is Beautiful (Italian), The Queen Of Silence (Polish), Seven Samurai (Japenese), Children Of Heaven (Persian), Where Are My Shoes (Persian), Andaz (Hindi), Pyasa (Hindi), Reet (Dogri), Lzadol (Ladakhi), Mainz Raat (First Kashmiri feature film) and many others will be screened on the occasion,” he said.
He said that the first edition of festival witnessed a huge success that prompted him to hold its second edition.
“We received so much love, warm wishes and standing ovations from our audience during the first film festival,” Mustaaque said.
When asked about the idea of starting the film festival, he said, “I felt that the cinema related activities were missing from this part of the world at a time when all forms of media arts were available to us, so I decided to go ahead with the idea.”
He further said that besides the film festival, five day workshop will be also held during the first half of the day and the workshop will be for the media students and the film lovers who want to learn about the film making.
“We have chosen the topic as ‘introduction to cinema’ where many Bollywood filmmakers will be interacting with its audience and will be seeking the feedback as well,” he added.
Saeed Mirza, a famous bollywood director and filmmaker said, “I felt very happy when I got a call from “Act and Know” about the festival. It is great opportunity for the people who were born after 90’s to know about the cinema. Bollywood and Kashmir share a very old relationship. They cannot be separated. Kashmir is known as photographer’s paradise and in the past both Bollywood and International film makers have shot their movies in Kashmir.”
Noted Writer and Bollywood Director Anwar Jamal felt that “by such initiatives, the youth of Kashmir will get a platform to go out and work in the field.”
