With a view to promote and showcase the Best of Indian cinema, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, through Directorate of Film Festivals, will be lending support to the organization of 2nd Jharkhand International Film Festival in Ranchi, Jharkhand from 1st to 3rd February, 2019. The objective of promoting the Festival is to encourage states that have showcased potential of promoting cinema.
The support is being provided under the “Grants in Aid” scheme. The aim of the scheme of is to promote good films reflecting the changes in and challenges and opportunities of society and to provide an opportunity of exposure to regional films to new trends in cinema, cinematic technology etc.
A package of the following six films is being provided for screening at the Festival:
- Kadvi Hawa (Hindi) directed by Nila Madhab Panda
- Bhor (Hindi) directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh
- Bastu Shap (Bengali) directed by Kaushik Ganguly
- Poorna (Hindi) directed by Rahul Bose
- I Am Kalam (Hindi) directed by Nila Madhab Panda
- Railway Children (Kannada) directed by Prithvi Konanur
Through this initiative, local budding filmmakers and film enthusiasts will get an opportunity of seeing the best of Indian cinema. It will also promote Jharkhand as a filming destination, while simultaneously giving a fillip to tourism in the region.
Background
Jharkhand had been captured multiple times on celluloid by great filmmakers including Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak when it was part of Bihar. But after attaining statehood, this scenic landscape seems to have slightly gone off the movie location map for some time. The State is making efforts to capture back its lost glory in the arena of cinema making. Since the Jharkhand State Film Policy released in 2015, the State has been steadily moving ahead in creating awareness among film-makers about its potential for film-making.
Jharkhand was chosen as the State in Focus at IFFI 2018. Six films either shot in Jharkhand under the Jharkhand Government Film Promotion Programme, or made in the language/dialect of the state were screened during IFFI 2018. The scenic state bestowed with rugged hills, dense forests and mesmerizing waterfalls got a much-needed impetus as a film shooting destination through this initiative.