Srinagar, Sep 10: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said the International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir (IFFJK) must grow beyond a four-day annual event into a year-round platform for screening, training, learning and collaboration, with a focus on nurturing local filmmaking talent.
Addressing the concluding ceremony of the inaugural IFFJK at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here, Omar said the festival had succeeded in finding both an audience and a purpose during its first edition.
“Four days ago, we gathered here to raise the curtain on the first International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir. At that time, the festival was an idea being tested, an invitation, an experiment and, above all, a hope that Jammu and Kashmir could create a meaningful platform for cinema,” he said.
He said the festival had brought filmmakers and audiences together and connected established professionals with young aspirants from Jammu and Kashmir.
“Over these last four days, IFFJK has brought filmmakers and audiences together, connected established professionals with young aspirants and created a space where cinema from Jammu and Kashmir could engage with India and the world,” Omar said.
The CM said the participation of young people from J&K had been particularly encouraging, adding that the festival had provided opportunities for discussions on storytelling, filmmaking, technology and collaboration.
With 120 films from more than 30 countries, Omar said the scale of the festival was significant, but its deeper value lay in the connections created among filmmakers, writers, artists and aspiring professionals.
“A young writer meeting a director, an aspiring filmmaker learning from a professional, or two people meeting here who may one day make a film together – these are the connections that give a festival its lasting value,” he said.
Omar congratulated filmmakers and others who were recognised during the festival and thanked the jury, delegates, filmmakers and members of the film fraternity for participating in the inaugural edition.
Reflecting on Kashmir’s long association with cinema, Omar said the screening of classic films against the backdrop of Dal Lake during the festival had created a special experience.
He referred to the screening of films including Jama, Arzoo, Kashmir Ki Kali and Kabhi Kabhie, saying that cinema which had once carried the image of Kashmir to audiences across the country had, in a sense, returned to the valley.
“For decades, Kashmir travelled to audiences through a cinema screen. This week, in a sense, the screen came back to Kashmir,” he said.
However, Omar said nostalgia could not define the future of J&K’s relationship with cinema.
“Our ambition must go beyond being a beautiful filming location. Jammu and Kashmir must increasingly become a place from which stories emerge, talent is discovered and films are conceived and created,” he said.
He said J&K had much more to offer cinema than its landscapes, with stories rooted in its cities, towns and villages, as well as its languages, literature, music, crafts, history and everyday lives.
“Our landscapes may bring filmmakers here, but our stories, our people and our professional filmmaking environment can bring them back,” he said.
The CM emphasised the need to create greater opportunities for young filmmakers and storytellers from J&K.
He said the success of IFFJK over the next decade should not be measured merely by the number of celebrities attending the festival or the films screened, but by the careers, opportunities and collaborations it helped create.
“Ten years from now, the International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir’s success will be measured not by the personalities who join us, but by the careers that we had here, the opportunities and collaborations that we created, and the stories from Jammu and Kashmir that reached audiences across India and the world,” he said.
Omar said the presence of filmmakers and artists had given the first edition stature, but the real tribute to their contribution would be to ensure that a new generation from J&K found its place in the film industry.
He called for IFFJK to evolve into a continuous platform for screening, learning, training and collaboration throughout the year.
Omar also highlighted the wider economic opportunities associated with the film industry, saying filmmaking could support local professionals, artists, service providers, businesses and employment.
“Films coming to Jammu and Kashmir should therefore leave behind not only valuable images but also skills, enjoyment and stronger local capabilities,” he said.
He invited visiting filmmakers, actors and delegates to return to J&K to shoot films, write, teach, collaborate and discover more of the region.
“To our visiting filmmakers, actors and delegates, my invitation is simple: come back to shoot, write, teach, collaborate and discover more of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Addressing young filmmakers and storytellers, Omar urged them to learn the craft, experiment and begin telling stories rooted in their own surroundings.
“Tell the stories of your neighbourhoods, villages, families and generations. Some of cinema’s most powerful voices are intimate and local. What matters is that the voice be authentic and the craft remains strong,” he said.
