Delhi to host two-day film festival on disability

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) Thirty-eight films from India and abroad will be showcased at a two-day film festival here Feb 20-21, seeking to give a glimpse into the lives of the disabled, their every day challenges and conquests.`

The 'We Care Film Fest', as the festival is called, is the fifth in a series of similar festivals organised annually.

Satish Kapoor, the festival director, said the event aims at spreading awareness about disability and sensitise the society through the medium of films.

'I have been working in the disability sector since 1994. Sometime around 2003, I saw several advertisements in the newspaper about film festivals being organised on issues of women empowerment and wildlife. That made me wonder, why not a festival on disability?' Kapoor said.

'Films are a wonderful medium to spread awareness about various issues. That's when I decided to organise the 'We Care Film Fest' in 2003 with 14 films - 11 from India and three from Austria, Germany and Israel,' he told IANS.

In this year's bouquet of films, there will be a one-minute, five-minute, 30 minute and 60 minute category. In the one-minute category, eight films will be screened.

'Inclusion: Make Everyone Happy' is one of them where the ramp is used as a metaphor for accessibility. The film portrays, in a humorous vein, that a society based on inclusive precepts benefits everyone - disabled, non-disabled and even animals.

In the five-minute category, the festival will showcase 12 films of which one is based on Anuradha Rathore, who had polio when she was young but fought her way through to study medicine in Jodhpur Medical College, Rajasthan.

While an independent jury will be judging these films, students from journalism institutes will be part of a participatory rating process for the first time.

'This time, we have received three films from abroad, enriching the visual treat for the audience. And we decided to involve students from mass communication institutes in a participatory rating process that will not only sensitise them to the issues but also provide an alternate view about the quality and content of these films,' Kapoor said.

The 38 participating films will revolve around a range of disabilities including visual impairment, hearing impairment, mental illness and autism.

In the foreign category, there are films from Greece, Israel and China.

'We organise this festival every year and have till now collected 150 documentaries on various issues of disability from India and abroad,' Kapoor said.

Copyright  IANS

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