Women in cinema will be the focus of the three-day ladakh International Film Festival (lIFF) to be held in leh from July 5. It will celebrate fair sex through some of the finest women-oriented films made in India.
Eminent film actor/director Aparna Sen is heading the jury of the lIFF 2013 where a panel discussion will be held on portrayal of women in cinema as well as role played by fair sex in film industry as directors/actors and the road ahead for them. Also to highlight the 37 million missing women of India, a signature campaign will be launched soon after under which people will take pledge to respect and protect women and prevent atrocities against them.
The festival, which has green carpet instead of traditional red carpet to highlight the importance of ecology in the Himalayan region, would premiere Teri Mc luhan’s brilliant documentary Frontier Gandhi on the freedom fighter, nationalist and peace advocate Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan.
As many as 700 entries from 130 countries were received for the festival of which 120 best films from 15 countries have been selected for showcasing, Melwyn Chirayath, Founder and Festival Director lIFF said.
The festival, the idea for which originated after the devastating cloudburst in the region to showcase the survival spirit of people, will have a ladakhi section aimed to promote local cinema. It will include Tsering Motup Chopsa’s feature film lzadol (broken piece of moon) with its central theme of women’s strength, patience and wit against the evils of the day. In addition, five short films from ladakh will also be premiered this year.
The festival, which will be inaugurated by Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and have Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari as chief guest, would have a retrospective on Gulzaar curated by Vishal Bharadwaj. Also there would be a special children section curated by Amole Gupte courtesy Children Film Society of India which will feature six children’s films.
The festival will not only encourage tourism as last year 1.6 lakh people attended it, but also encourage the film making in ladakh, he said.