Kohima:The three-day long first Kohima Documentary Film festival and Camera Workshop got underway on Monday at the State Academy Hall in Kohima.
Speaking at the opening ceremony as the Chief Guest, the Nagaland Director of Art & Culture Vevo Sapu said it is interesting to see well-produced documentaries on different topics, which will certainly leave a lasting impression on the mind of cinema lovers.
He said that documentary is an effective tool for education, moulding public opinions, shaping our perceptions and also an excellent medium for sensitising the populace on socio-cultural, economic concerns and trends.
He said that 30 years back, films were very expensive to develop but now there has been a leap in technology and with the advent of small digital cameras and editing software, and with some training, anyone can produce a documentary.
Mr Sapu congratulated the organisers for coming up with this idea whereby not only the viewers come and see, but they are given the opportunity to interact with those behind the camera and also learn something of the process involved in making film.
First of its kind in the state, shall see the screening of nearly 20-odd award winning national and international documentaries from all over the world.
Filmmakers and resources persons shall also participate in the three day event in person and on Skype from countries like USA, UK, The Netherland, Sri Lanka, and India among others.
Besides, creations of documentary film makers from Nagaland shall also be screened during the three-day festival.
An important part of the festival is a basic camera workshop by national award winning filmmaker Gautam Bora on November 5 at Kohima.
The event is open to 60 participants on a first-come-first serve basis while entry to the film screening is free of cost.
Jahnu Barua, winner of 12 national awards and scores of international awards for his creations, shall be present on the last day of the festival to interact with students, young film-makers and documentary enthusiasts. Each screening in the festival shall be followed by interaction and discussion among participants, directors and invited experts.
Documentaries on human trafficking, traffic snarls, music, media, art, culture, sports, environment and agriculture are some of the broad themes of the festival.
Among those who shall be interacting with the viewers are Academy award nominee Robert Bilheimer, President of Commonwealth Journalist Association and former BBC Asia Editor Rita Payne, Dutch filmmaker and journalist Bregtje Van Dar Haak, UK-based filmmaker Stephan Hilpert, New York-based filmmaker Sherief Elkatsha and Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Skiba, besides top names from the Indian documentary fraternity. (UNI)
