GUWAHATI, Nov 30 - Taking short filmmaking and screening in Assam to a new direction through its �by the road film fests�, the ADDA Short Film Festival will enter its 14th edition this year. The fest will be held at Shilpgram, Panjabari here on December 2 and 3.
The festival this year will witness contributory participation of films from New York (Cultures of Resistance), Bangladesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, the North East and various places of Assam.
�The fest that started in 2004 as the first open air screening of short films, a less popular concept at that time, has grown from strength to strength over the years,� said Amardeep Gogoi, president of ADDA.
The 14th ADDA Short Film Festival will be formally inaugurated on December 2 at 4.30 pm by noted cine critic Bhuban Lahkar, even though the event will commence at 10 am with a �Walk for cinema� from Shilpgram.
The walk will cover a short route around the Kalakshetra premises as a symbolic gesture of brotherhood amongst all film lovers. It is also supposed to help make the annual festivals dedicated to films and film craft a success.
�The two-day annual festival is the result of a decade-long passionate journey of a bunch of friends, promoting and propagating the short film form of art among the masses, making ADDA the first ever short film festival in the North-east region of India, promoting new movie makers, exchange of knowledge, information, ideas, and culture between the North East and the rest of India,� Gogoi added.
The ADDA Short Film Festival is usually held on Saturday and Sunday of the first week of December, which is then followed by a sequel of �one day� events in other parts of Assam, like Tezpur, Karimganj, Jorhat, Dibrugarh etc., throughout the year till the next annual event.
The festival will have multi-screening facilities, along with numerous activities like symposium, workshop, photography competition, quiz for the students, mukoli mancha � an open forum discussion for all interested � and various other activities.
The competing films were adjudged by a three-member jury consisting of film director Sanjeev Hazarika, journalist and film critic Manoj Borpujari and film-maker Bhaskar Das.
The film competition screening was done on November 28. From the total 50 entries, the jury meticulously sorted out and selected 15 best films under seven different categories.
The film screening on December 2 will commence with the award winning film Aaba by Amar Kaushik, recipient of the Best Short Film, at the Berlin Film Festival 2017.
