Arunachal Pradesh is all set to host ‘Film Northeast-2016,’ a film festival of the region from February 17 to 20 here to promote understanding and appreciation of the diversity of cinema in the Northeast.
Jointly organised by the Information and Public Relation department in association with the Film Federation of Arunachal (FFA), the four-day event coinciding with the Statehood Day celebration on February 20, was formally announced by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on Monday.
Stating that there was no dearth of talent in the State, Mr.Tuki said his government was contemplating assistance to budding film-makers of the State and frame policy guidelines soon in this regard.
“Though Arunachal is a newcomer in the field of film-making, with the establishment of the Film and Television Institute (third in the country) at Jote near here, the youth of the State can compete with the outside world and the festival is a part of the institute project to expose the talents of the State,” Mr.Tuki said.
He said the picturesque Jote would be an educational hub for the State with the NIT and the FTI.
“Through such events, the frustrated youth of the State can be engaged in film-making, which will curb unemployment up to some extent. These are areas where we can generate more employment avenues,” he said while exhorting all stakeholders to inculcate the “Team Arunachal” spirit to make the event a grand success.
IPR Parliamentary Secretary Bamang Felix said the aim of the festival was to showcase the State’s rich tribal culture, tradition and hospitality.
Referring to the FTI, Mr. Felix said many Chief Ministers of the region were apprehensive and opposed to the setting up of the Institute in the State by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech this year.
“It is a challenge for us to host the festival despite limited resources and I am sure we will be able to prove that we are not inferior to other States,” Mr. Felix said.
Chief Secretary Ramesh Negi said films were a bridge to cultural understanding between people. “The film festival will be a harbinger of better understanding among the Northeast people through culture, compassion and creativity sharing,” he said.
IPR secretary Sonam Chombey said the festival would serve as a platform to bring people of the region closer.
With 67 films to be screened in both competitive and non-competitive categories including children category, the festival would provide a space for film-makers of the region to interact and engage, to showcase and nurture talent in the art of cinema, besides promoting an active cinema culture in all States of the region.
In the competitive segment, four categories of films would be screened including ‘Chiaroscuro’, where one feature film from all States of the region would be screened, ‘Clapperboard’, where short films would be screened, ‘Our Stories’ (documentary films on contemporary issues) and ‘First Cut’, where debut films would be screened.
The non-competitive segment would consist of four categories — Magic Mirror (retrospective of a leading film-maker of the region), Bioscope (children films), Clapstick Caravan (best student film from SRFTI, Kolkata) and Arunachal Preview where best of shorts, documentaries and feature films from Arunachal would be screened.
There would also be side events like directors’ speak, script writing and sound design workshops and film bazaar incorporating various facets of film making.
Renowned Bollywood director Vishal Bhardwaj, actors Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranaut who would visit the state in February to shoot their film Rangoon , would be a part of the award ceremony of the festival on February 20, the officials said. - PTI
