AIZAWL, Sept 22 - The first edition of the Mizoram International Short Film Festival came to an end today with State Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan attending the closing ceremony as the chief guest at the Aijal Club.
The Governor said Mizoram is a land of scenic beauty with a variety of landscapes and hills, and is blessed with beautiful water bodies that have the power to attract every filmmaker who would like to explore the scenery of the highlands through their camera lens on the silver screen.
�The people of Mizoram have a long association with various art forms and the State is also known as the Song Bird of India due to the liking towards songs and is also considered to be one of the finest choir singers in North East India. Traditional dances like Cheraw, Chheih Lam and Khullam have played a major role in creating a unique tradition of art and culture in the State. Organising such film festivals in different parts of the State will boost the morale and talent of the young filmmakers in the State,� Rajasekharan said.
The film festival was inaugurated by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla in a glittering ceremony at Aijal Club on Thursday night. It opened with the screening of an internationally acclaimed short film by Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover.
The three-day film festival saw the screening of 82 films from across the globe, including 25 from Mizoram and a workshop on short films conducted by Bollywood filmmaker Umesh Shukla.
The festival, which was the first of its kind in Mizoram, was jointly organised by the Government of Mizoram and Innovations India aimed at promoting Mizoram as a preferred destination for filmmaking and reaching out to international filmmakers to showcase the unexplored beauty of the State. The festival was received well by the international film fraternity and it is likely to put Mizoram in the limelight.
