The inaugural edition of Jammu International Film Festival began here on Thursday. Thirty seven short films and documentaries from 11 countries besides 10 projects from native filmmakers will be screened at the two-day-long festival. “It was dream come true for the people of Jammu that first ever film festival is being organised here. My wish was fulfilled,” Mayor of Jammu Chander Mohan Gupta told reporters here. Festival directors Rakesh Roshan Bhat and his brother Rohit Bhat said many Bollywood actors, directors of other film festivals and participants from all over the country have arrived here to be part of the festival. Besides producer Pralhad Taware, celebrities like Kashmira Shah, Ayub Khan and Ayaz Khan are in Jammu to attend the festival. Festival directors of Pune International Film Festival, Amol Bhagat, and Kashmir World Film Festival, Mushtaq Ali, are also attending the movie extravaganza. Famous actors from the state Mushtaq Kak and Lalit Parimoo expressed their happiness over the response to the very first edition of the festival. “We were pleasantly surprised to receive over 150 projects (short films and documentaries) across 15 countries in the very first edition. Our competent and eminent jury panel has very carefully picked up the best of the projects to be screened,” Kak said. Among the key highlights of the festival will be an acting workshop on ‘Abhinay Yog’ which will be conducted by Parimoo. Rohit Bhat said the festival represents the aspirations of the art and cinema loving people of Jammu. “Bollywood has explored the scenic locations as well as the themes around Jammu and Kashmir for a long time. “Jammu and Kashmir, also in turn has contributed a great deal to Indian cinema in terms of artists and technicians. However, the focus of this festival is to improve the connect more specifically between Jammu region and film industry,” he added.
