8th Jagran Film Festival to screen over 130 films

New Delhi, June 14 (IANS) Over 130 films from across the world will be screened during the eighth edition of Jagran Film Festival, which aims to take cinema beyond boundaries, build awareness and create conversations around cinema and culture.

Some of the prominent sections of the festival, which will begin on July 1 here, are World Panorama, Indian Showcase, Jagran Shorts, Jagran Discovery, Country Focus and the Retrospective of films.

This year's schedule also introduces Knowledge Series in alliance with Barry John Acting Studio. This new programme will be held in each of the 16 cities, including Lucknow, Patna, Dehradun, Bhopal, Hisar, Ludhiana, Meerut, Raipur and Mumbai.

Manoj Srivastava, Strategic Consultant of the Festival, said in a statement: "It's nice to present a mixed bag of excellent cinematic works of the great filmmakers like Buddhadeb Dasgupta alongside some young filmmakers. Having Barry John Acting Studio to present the Knowledge series is the X factor of the festival."

Another first in the 2017 edition is the launch of cash awards for winning films across some categories. The jury comprises five members who will select this year's winners across various award categories.

A new addition to the festival line up is a section titled The Achievers. This will feature biopics from across the world.

The Jagran Shorts category, an international competition for short films to support upcoming filmmakers across the world, will have films from countries like Turkey, India, Greece, US, Iraq, Latvia, Spain and Sri Lanka. It includes films like "Punchline", "We've Got Company" and "Mazhabi Laddu".

The International Feature aims to bring the best of world cinema spanning a range of cinematic approaches, narratives, styles and innovation. It will have films from Macedonia, Egypt, Brazil, India, Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, China and more.

Films in the line-up include "Purple Horizons", "Black Cat" and "The Dock".

Another new addition to JFF is a section titled The International Documentary. This will showcase documentaries from Israel, India, Syria, Mozambique and Germany. The screening list includes award winning films like "A Memory in Three Acts" and "Babylon Dreamers".

The Indian Showcase section will have movies like "Amaraavati" (Kannada), "Anarkali of Arrah", "Antareen" (Assamese), "Hindi Medium" and "Jolly LLB 2".

This year, the Jagran Film Festival received film submissions from 152 countries. Of these, it will screen movies from 51 countries in 26 languages.

Basant Rathore, Senior Vice President, Jagran Prakashan Limited, said: "Through the festival, Jagran becomes the harbinger for culture, education, leisure and community bonding. We do hope that this year's festival creates a far reaching impact, and we're able to connect stories with audiences and create a high quality cinema culture across India."

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