Ayodhya Film Festival has reached the threshold of its fourth edition. Started in 2006, this journey was the result of the great struggle meant to change the identity of the city. Against an identity which was given by communal politics and because of which people counted the bygone days by the number of human sacrifices that were made here, by remembering when their homes were reduced to ashes, when the ringing of the bells was replaced by the sound of the sirens and when our colourful culture of integration faded and was devoid of all the colours.
But the beginning of this journey, gradually gave a new way of recounting this city’s heydays on the canvas of its memory. Today we can proudly recall when we started the celebration of our ‘culture of resistance and common legacy’ through this film festival and when the journey of this people’s cinema made an unbreakable bond with the common legacy and martrydom of Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaq-ul-lah Khan.
In this journey we not only showcased peoples’ resistance movements from the world over through films that brought to light their struggles, but it also ifused in us an energy that helped us bring a film like ‘Rising from the Ashes’ in front of the world that brought the true identity of this city. The film is a story of 75 year old Shareef Chacha who irrespective of any religious discrimination gives a humane funeral to unclaimed bodies.. After all this is the soul of this city known for its ‘Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb’ and religious tolerance.
Our special emphasis was to make young filmmakers our companions in this journey, and on these lines we also screened films like ‘Bhagva Yudh’ and “Silent Chambal’ last year. In this journey of people’s cinema, many filmmakers from other cities and those associated with other creative movements encouraged us by their contribution in its organisation. They boosted our morale by inspiring us to make this festival bigger and better. Friends, from 19 to 21 december 2010, this 3 day film festival is being organised in Ayodhya-Faizabad. We want you to accompany us in this journey to beat the forces that want to weaken the democratic fabric of this nation.
Abhishek sharma
December 15, 2010 at 6:17 am
mai samay par maujood rahunga…..