JAMMU: The second edition of Jammu film festival will be held here from September 3 with films from 54 countries slated to be screened over two days of the event, officials said on Saturday.
The first ever international film festival here was held in September in 2019 in Jammu, the winter capital of the Union Territory.
The event was in cold shelf for the last two years due to COVID pandemic.
The second edition of the International film festival at Jammu will be held over two days from September 3 in Jammu city, Rakesh Roshan Bhat, the festival’s director, told reporters here.
He said that 54 projects from 15 countries including feature films, documentaries, and shorts will be screened during the event.
We had opened the call for entries for the second edition in October last year and we got an overwhelming response, he said.
Owing to the success of the first edition, there was a lot of excitement around the second edition.
Bhat said that the 54 films were selected from among 140 films sent from 21 countries.
Our panel of judges has carefully curated screenings for the second edition which include six feature films, 39 shorts, and nine documentaries, he said.
The panel of judges includes prominent actor Lalit Parimoo, Geetiyan fame director Raahul Sharma, Iranian filmmaker Alimohammad Eghbaldar, producer Kapil Mattoo, and storyboard writer and critic Amit Singh.
The panel is headed by Sangeet Natak-awardee and well-known actor-director Mushtaq Kak.
We are presenting the best of world cinema to cinema lovers in Jammu. It is an excellent opportunity for the youths of J&K to learn and network, said Lalit Parimoo.
We will continue to have a separate section for J&K where we will showcase work from local talent. We have tried to accommodate most of the local projects for screening, added Mushtaq Kak.
Renowned actor and festival advisor Mir Sarwar expressed his elation over the participation of local youths in the festival
The festival will see many side events such as local folk performances, acting, and writing workshops.
We are leaving no stone unturned to raise the bar with every edition and make the Jammu film festival a name to reckon with, said Rohit Bhat, the festival co-director.
Jammu film festival is being organised by Vomedh a prominent cultural organisation of the J&K. (PTI)