GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has sought cooperation from all sections of the society particularly from the film fraternity to make the first ever Guwahati International Film Festival a success.
Reviewing the preparations put in place for the Guwahati International Film Festival at the conference hall in Janata Bhawan here on Monday, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal pushed for an all-out effort on part of the administration and the film fraternity to make the film festival truly a memorable one.
It may be noted that the first Guwahati International Film Festival would be a six-day event starting from October 28 and ending on November 2. Altogether 78 films representing different genres from 32 different countries would be screened with Turkey being the focus country. Popular films like The Harmonium, Glory, We are Never Above, Two Lottery Tickets will be screened along with others will share the screen during the festival.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will inaugurate the film festival on 28 October while acclaimed film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will be the chief guest in the closing ceremony of the film festival which will be held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra and Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society simultaneously.
Sharing his observations, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, “The Guwahati International Film Festival has given us an opportunity to raise the standard of Assamese film and to project the Assamese Films at the world forum. The festival will be a melting pot where there will be cinematic exchanges among various countries”.
He also said, “Guwahati International Film Festival is yet another addition to the list of international events that Guwahati city has organised and we should make all efforts as Team Assam to make the event truly memorable”.
He also reiterated the need of involving other towns as well as villages of the state in organising the festival. Referring to the Act East Policy which envisages making Guwahati as a Gateway to the South East Asia, Sonowal said that the film festival where 32 countries including most of the South East Asian nations are participating will be a way forward towards cultural and business exchanges between Assam and other nations featuring in the film festival. Organised by Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society with the active support of Government of Assam, Sonowal asked all the stake holders to leave no stone unturned for making the festival a resounding success.
Sonowal also asked the concerned state departments to provide all also asked the department to put up welcome boards around Guwahati for the foreign delegates containing welcome messages in their own languages.