No entry from Pakistan for SCO Film Festival to be held in Mumbai this week

The event conducted by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), a public sector undertaking of the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, will be held from January 27 to 30. Its opening ceremony will be held at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre at Nariman Point’s National Centre for Performing Arts.

Neerja Sekhar, additional secretary (I&B), said the festival aims to build cinematic partnerships and act as a bridge between the cultures of various countries in the SCO. “It will also create synergies in the film fraternity of SCO members by way of collective cinematic experience,” she said.

The SCO film festival will open with the world premiere of an Indian film. While the competition section is for SCO Member States only, the non-competition section is for all SCO countries which include Member States, Observer States and Dialogue Partner States. In addition, there will be master classes, in-conversation sessions, country and state pavilions, photo and poster exhibitions, handicrafts stalls, and other events.

As many as 57 films will be showcased at the festival – 14 in the competition section and 43 in the non-competition section. Marathi film ‘Godavari’, directed by Nikhil Mahajan, and Gujarati movie ‘The Last Film Show’, directed by Pan Nalin, have been nominated from India.

Fourteen films to be screened under “Competition Section” during #SCOFilmFestival

*The films will be dubbed / subtitled in English for the benefit of the audience

Register now at https://t.co/apMxKmKsoF and catch these movies#competition #filmfestival #SCO #Mumbai #NFDCIndia pic.twitter.com/QPDyQiOsvQ

— NFDC India (@nfdcindia) January 23, 2023

Russian films ‘Mom, I’m Alive!’ and ‘Paralympian’ have been nominated from Kazakhstan; besides Kyrgyz films ‘Akyrky Koch (The Road to Eden)’ and ‘Uy satylat (Home for Sale)’; Chinese movie ‘Home Coming’ will be in the competition section.

The jury for the SCO Film Festival 2023 comprises filmmaker Rahul Rawail, Chinese film director Ning Ying, Kazakhstan musician Dimash Kudaibergen, Kyrgyzstan filmmaker Gulbara Tolomushova, Russian film producer Ivan Kudryavtsev, Tajikistan actor-filmmaker Mehmedsaid Shohiyon, and Uzbek actor Matyakub Sadullayevich Matchanov.

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Among the Indian films to be screened at the festival are Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Sardar Udham’, S S Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, Mridul Toolsidas’s ‘Toolsidas Junior’, and short film ‘Jugalbandi’ by Chetan Bhakuni. Moreover, five restored classics will also be showcased in the festival – ‘Shatranj ke Khiladi’ (1977, Hindi); ‘Subarnrekha’ (1965, Bengali); ‘Chandralekha’ (1948, Tamil); ‘Iru Kodgul’ (1969, Tamil) and ‘Chidambaram’ (1985, Malayalam).