Pune hosts Afghan film festival

A three -day Afghan film festival was inaugurated here by the Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Mohammand Abdali.

Speaking on the occasion, theAfghan Ambassador appreciated the work of some .

Bollywood actors of the fifties and sixties and expressed the need to revive old camaraderie with India.

An Afghan filmmaker, Siddiq Barmak threw light on the difficulties, which they faced while shooting a film in Afghanistan and said, "Sometimes the very old interpretation of religion or tradition or absence of a good quality of professionals create a lot of difficulties. But I think these difficulties are not driving you to the corner but give you more advantage to create something, to find out the solution --- so it's a creativity."

The festival opened with the screening of an Afghan Film, called 'Opium War' on the 17th and others will be shown on 18th and 19th. It is a rare occasion for the film enthusiasts, as many critically acclaimed and award winning Afghan films are to be screened during the festival.

Some of the renowned Afghan filmmakers like Siddiq Barmak, Atiq Rahimi and woman director Roya Sadat were present at the event.

Many Bollywood films have been shot in Afghanistan but because of the disturbed situation there people don't get to see a lot of Afghanistan in Bollywood.