It's that time of the year when a plethora of film festivals are organised in the country. But, this year, Pakistani filmmakers, who have been a part of these festivals for years now, be it at the NFDC Film Bazaar at IFFI or the DIFF (Delhi International Film Festival), will not be attending as participants or attendees.

NO PAK PARTICIPATION AT NFDC FILM BAZAAR?
The NFDC Film Bazaar 2016 has announced its official selection of projects for its main segment, the Co-Production Market, which will be held between November 20 and 24 in Goa, which includes 18 projects. However, none of the projects are from Pakistan. The co-production market starts with an open pitch, where selected filmmakers pitch their projects to a curated audience of national and international producers, financiers and sales agents. The Bazaar is quite popular among Pakistani filmmakers, who have also participated in it in the past. But, sources confirm that Pakistan will not be participating this year.

INVITES SENT, CONFIRMATION AWAITED
Ram Kishore Parcha, founder president of DIFF, told us, “Last year, a Pakistani filmmaker, Khalid Hasan Khan, had made comments An award may be won tomorrow, but freedom of expression is important', and returned the award, joining the bandwagon of India's award waapsi.“ DIFF officials told us that keeping this incident in mind and considering the current situation, participation by Pakistani artists is uncertain.

Parcha said, “The Pakistani movies are screened in a section called 'Across the Border'. We had invited the Pakistani filmmakers in July, after we received their entries. The situation was peaceful then. But now, we aren't sure if they will be attending the festival or not. We have to send the invites and our part is done. Now, the Indian Embassy in Pakistan has to make a decision and clear their visa. We don't think it will be an issue, but the decision is not in our hands now.“

IF THE LONE PAKISTANI FILM ISN'T CLEARED BY THE I&B MINISTRY, IT WON'T BE SCREENED AT THE FESTIVAL
Last year, DIFF had sent a number of invites to people from the Pakistan film fraternity. But their visas didn't get cleared because Khalid Hasan Khan got involved in the award waapsi issue.

Even though the festival will begin in December, no final decision has been taken. An official told us that they are not planning to screen any Pakistani movies at DIFF as well, though Parcha said that it's up to the I&B ministry and not them. Parcha added, “We have cleared one Pakistani movie titled Revenge Of The Worthless, directed by Jamal Shah, which is about terrorism in Pakistan. I don't think there should be any objection, given the subject of the movie.We have to send the list to the I&B ministry. If the film isn't cleared, it won't be screened. But it's not like the film will be released here, it will just be a screening. But there's still time for the festival and we don't know how things will turn out. Nothing is clear so far.“