Makeshift auditoriums, made of straw in a paddy field inside a remote village here, became the venue for an international film festival which aims to bring quality cinema to rural areas.
The first edition of Assam International Rural Film Festival (AIRFF), the audiences enjoyed some world classics at Phesual village of Meleng tea garden area, which is about 25 km from Jorhat town and 320 km east of Guwahati.
Through the four-day festival, which opened on December 23, the Assam Film Society (AFS), which closes today, screened old classics as well as newly released regional films for the villagers.
"I am involved with film festivals and societies across the country and worldwide for the last 40 years. I have never seen a proper international film festival being held at such an interior place in temporary theatres. It is happening for the first time," renowned film critic, festival adviser and curator Premendra Mazumder told PTI here.
Mazumder, the chief guest of the movie gala, said thousands of enthusiasts from nearby villages had a good time enjoying the films till late at the night.
Along with two auditoriums, a temporary open stage has been constructed for holding cultural programmes and a few ethnic food stalls were also set up to serve dishes of various tribes.
The first-of-its-kind festival has screened foreign films like "Bicycle Thieves" from Italy, "Anil Bagchir Ekdin" from Bangladesh, "Falsifier" from Serbia, "Hush! Girls Don't Scream" from Iran, "Saving Private Perez" from Mexico and "Night of the Innocents" from Cuba.
AIRFF's platter of 26 films also included recently- released acclaimed regional films such as - Assamese film "Aei Maatite", which is based on the superstitious menace of witch-hunting, along with "Lady of the Lake" from Manipur, Malayalam film "Manhole", Marathi film "Nati Khel" and Bengali movie "Guhamanab".
"All the film festivals are organised in cities, which are equipped with proper auditoriums with all the technical specifications. The rural people can never go to these fests and they are left unaware of the world cinema," festival director Jayanta Madhab Dutta said.
Accordingly, the AFS decided to take cinema to the people in villages and organise the festival despite severe financial hardships, he added.
Eminent filmmaker Sitanath Lahkar, whose "Aei Maatite" was screened on the inaugural day, said, "This is really appreciable to hold a film festival among the rural mass, who are usually deprived of any progress by the world. The AIRFF will bring the outer world closer to the villagers."
National Award-winning filmmaker Utpal Borpujari lauded the movie gala, saying the AFS has great potential to introduce rural people to good cinema from the world over.
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