SRINAGAR: A two-day Travelling International Film Festival started at the University of Kashmir on Tuesday with a special focus on key themes including gender, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
The festival, titled ‘Samabhav,’ has been organized by the Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMRC) in collaboration with Men against Violence & Abuse (MAVA), with an active partnership from KU’s Centre for Women’s Studies and Research, Media Education and Research Centre, and Department of Social Work.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Nilofer Khan inaugurated the film festival as the chief guest and expressed hope that it would provide a great experience for young students to learn about filmmaking and the importance of highlighting social issues through films.
She emphasized that the youth can act as enablers of positive change in society by raising awareness about issues like gender inequality using films as a medium to convey their message.
The VC also congratulated EMRC, MAVA, and other partnering organizations for organizing this important film festival.
Prof Irshad A Nawhoo, Dean of the School of Social Sciences, attended the inaugural session as a guest of honor and highlighted various initiatives taken by the University of Kashmir to ensure a hassle-free academic progression for women students and research scholars.
Harish Sadani, Co-Founder and Executive Director of MAVA, stated that the 5th edition of the Travelling International Film Festival is a student-centric program where students will analyze, review, debate, and discuss the short films, documentaries, and feature films immediately after their screening during the festival. He described it as an interactive festival where the focal point is lights, camera, and interaction.
Earlier, Director EMRC Dr Salima Jan welcomed the dignitaries, guests, and student participants, and outlined the broad objectives of the film festival. She mentioned that nearly 200 students from the University of Kashmir, its affiliated colleges, Central University of Kashmir, Islamic University of Science and Technology, and North Campus KU will participate in the two-day event, where 12 films will be screened and reviewed.
Under the guidance of the VC, students from KU’s MERC, Department of Social Work, North Campus, Centre for Women’s Studies and Research, as well as members of the Internal Complaints Committee, were specifically selected to participate in the event due to the high importance of the theme.
Dr Roshan, Coordinator of CWSR, delivered the vote of thanks, while Dr. Tariq Abdullah from EMRC conducted the proceedings of the inaugural session. (KNO)
