New Delhi, 3 December: A total of 40 films including features, shorts and documentaries were screened at the very first government-run International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities (IFFPD) which ended today with the presentation of awards by Social Justice and Empowerment Mnister Thaawar Chand Gehlot.
Minister of State in the Ministry Vijay Sampla and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Col Rajyawardhan Rathore were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, popular actor Vivek Oberoi said that it was heartening to see that the disabled were being brought into the mainstream in an inclusive society.
Gehlot said 500 entries had been received for the film festival which in itself a big feat. In the years to come, the Festival may be expanded to achieve more success and achieve its objective of creating greater awareness about the problems of the disabled.
During the opening day, he had said the Government was taking several initiatives for empowering people with disabilities and one such initiative was the Accessible India Campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, which marks the International day of Persons with Disabilities. This Campaign intends to create a disabled friendly public infrastructure in 50 most important cities to bring the people with disabilities into the mainstream.
The festival opened on 1 December at the Sirifort Auditorium with the screening of the film Yellow which is a Marathi film directed by Mahesh Limaye exploring a mother daughter relationship and developmental disability and behaviour of a child. .
The films include 10 features, 16 shorts and 14 documentaries and have been selected out of 541 entries received from India and abroad.
The Best Director and Best Film in each of the three categories of Films were felicitated with cash awards with the First and Second Runner Up receiving trophies and citations from the Department.
The awards are:
Best Film (Feature) – (Fiction Feature) – Rs 3 lakh + Trophy + Citation; (Documentary- Feature) – Rs 1 lakh + Trophy + Citation.
Best Film (Documentary) Rs 2.5 lakh + Trophy + Citation; Best Film (Short) – Rs 1 lakh + Trophy + Citation.
Best Director (Feature) – Rs 2.5 lakh + Trophy + Citation; Best Director (Documentary) – Rs 1.5 lakh + Trophy + Citation; Best Director (Short) – Rs 1 lakh + Trophy + Citation.
The unique film festival in collaboration with the National Films Development Corporation (NFDC) would also have a workshop on film directing and screen writing etc for children.
Until now, the non-governmental Brotherhood has been organising WeCare Film Festivals on Disability around the year in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan.
