A total of 56 films will be screened at the 2nd Nagaland Film Festival to be held at Kohima from October 31 to November 1.
The festival will be held at the Capital Convention Centre in the state capital.
Addressing a press conference at Kohima on Tuesday, the Festival director from the Film Association of Nagaland, Yapangnaro Longkumer said, “A total of 56 films have been officially selected for screening at the festival.”
“Out of the 56 films, 28 have been selected for the competition category and 28 for the non-competition category,” said Longkumer.
Saying that lots of young Naga filmmakers are participating in the festival which is “encouraging”, Longkumer said, “We want to make the selection impartial by inviting the jury from outside the state.”
Talking to the media, information and public relations (IPR) director Limawati Ao said, “The festival will be first of its kind in Nagaland where filmmakers from all the northeastern states will participate.”
The film festival is being organised by the Film Association of Nagaland and sponsored by the Nagaland IPR department.
Besides screening of the films, there will be master class, penal discussions and other activities for the upcoming filmmakers, Ao said.
“We are happy that the famous Bollywood film producer and director Subhash Ghai, who will be coming to the state capital for another programme, is expected to attend the festival on November 1,” he said.
Ao said it will be a good opportunity for the filmmakers of the region to get acquainted with him and his works since he is also a film promoter and has institute that trains filmmakers, playback singers and artistes.
He also said the IPR department is in touch with the states that are established in the film sector.
Ao hoped Nagaland will also have a film policy soon.
IPR additional director Tokishe Sema said it has just been two years since IPR department was made the nodal department for films in the state.
The IPR department has been working together with the filmmakers in the state to take filmmaking to a higher level, said Sema.
Sema said the IPR department will try its best to encourage the many talented filmmakers in the state through workshops on film making and technical issues and others.