Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; September 27, 2016)

The seventh edition of Jagran Film Festival (JFF) kicked off yesterday at Cinepolis, Andheri, with the screening of French-Algerian thriller Road To Istanbul. Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor inaugurated the event by lighting the ceremonial lamp and launched a book titled Talkies – Cinema ka Safar.

Arjun said, “It is an honour to be part of such a prestigious event. This festival is unique in the sense that it travels to 16 cities. I have had the privilege of watching cinema from across the world and am glad that now we are able to provide a platform to filmmakers to showcase their films and for the audience to get exposed to world cinema.”

The 31-year-old also talked about JFF serving as a “great learning platform” for budding filmmakers. “With film festivals, today’s youth has the opportunity to watch, learn and understand world cinema. A lot of films showcased at the festival will be followed by a master class conducted by industry veterans. There are some interesting films this year; the opening film (Road To Istanbul), especially, has caught my attention,” added Arjun. Road To Istanbul, a 92-minute film by Rachid Bouchareb, is a compellingly portrait of a Belgian woman desperately trying to find her teenage daughter, who has left home to join the Islamic State in Syria.

Some of the important sections of the festival include Indian Showcase, World Panorama, Jagran Shorts, Stars on the Horizon, Country Focus among others. The Indian Showcase includes many of this year’s releases, including Airlift, Neerja, Natsamrat, Aligarh and Sarbjit.

The week-long extravaganza will conclude on October 2.