972 films entered in Jagran Film Festival in the first week itself

The 7th edition of Jagran Film Festival is receiving tremendous response from the film industry across the globe with 972 films across various categories entered from 57 countries in the first week itself. The Festival has invited entries from filmmakers in categories like Indian Showcase (Competitive section for Indian features), Short is Sweet (Competitive section for International short films) and the World Panorama (Noncompetitive section for international feature films).

The Festival is receiving film entries until 31 May 2016 through its website and would open in New Delhi on July 1, 2016. The largest travelling film festival in the world is ready to travel to 16 cities in the country and connect with film buffs once again. The Festival that created a furore in the film world with its gripping content and intense connect with film audiences throughout India begins its three-month journey from New Delhi and after travelling to cities like Kanpur, Lucknow, Patna, Bhopal, Indore, Dehradun, Raipur, Jamshedpur, Banaras, Allahabad, Ludhiana and others culminates with a gala awards ceremony in Mumbai end September.

In its continued growth in the past six years, the festival has seen a vast upward swing in popularity, reach and connect. “It has provided space for the expression of views not only to the seasoned film delegates but also the raw audiences,” opines Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra. Talking about the Festival, Actor-Director-Producer Pooja Bhatt says,” I enjoyed the connect with the masses that Jagran offers in smaller cities which we tend to miss out on.” Talking about Jagran Film Awards at the Festival, Director Madhur Bhandarkar said, “Very genuine awards”. The Festival has in the past honoured film personalities who contributed immensely to the development of the Cinematic art but were largely ignored by the Media and the Government.

The personalities honoured at Jagran Film Festival are the professionals who were household names once but were ignored soon after. The Festival honoured Producer-Director-Actor Chandrashekhar, veteran Film Editor Waman Guru and last year veteran Make Up Artist Pandhari Juker. Felicitated by 11 Indian Film Directors, a teary-eyed Pandhari dada said, ”No one ever bothered about a Makeup Artist, forget about awarding them. I am happy someone thought about me and my profession.”

In the past six years, the Festival has emerged as a dark horse involving millions of people across 16 cities of India, entertaining them, informing and educating them on Cinema and its related professionals through film screenings, Master Classes, seminars, Symposia and interviews under the title ‘Coffee Table’.