SAsia documentary film festival begins at Gangtok

Gangtok, July 6: Fifteen outstanding documentaries, including a few award winning short films from different parts of the country and other South Asian countries, will be screened in a documentary film festival starting from today.

The festival - Travelling Film South Asia 2007- would be the first festival to be held here and is organized by Rachna Books, a local bookstore.

'Travelling Film South Asia' started by the Himal Association from Nepal had been offering a platform for documentary filmmakers and their audience to meet under a common roof since 1997.

Over the years, Travelling Film South Asia has come to be a tradition that is reckoned the world over for the outstanding films it showcases.

This festival would feature 15 outstanding documentaries to come out of South Asia in last two years.

These films had travelled all over the world, giving audiences an opportunity to sample an exciting range of topics and themes, presentation styles and techniques.

Some of the films to be screened in the next one week are Dirty Laundry (42 min) from South Africa, Final Solution (149 min) from Gujarat, Lanka: The Other Side of War and Peace (75 min) from Sri Lanka and Team Nepal (37 min) from Nepal.

The organizers hoped this festival would highlight the possibilities of the ever accessible and affordable technology to the youth.

This in turn could turn more and more youngsters to take up film-making as a medium to highlight the issues that concern South Asia at large.

"Besides offering an insight into alternative career options, it is felt that a greater understanding of one's region also empowers our youth to be a more knowledgeable global citizen that our circumstances necessitate us to strive to be,'' said a release from the organizers.

The festival starts from July 6 and would continue till July 15.

UNI