Verite Film Festival is an annual film festival of Kashmiri cinema held in Awantipora, Jammu and Kashmir, India.[1]
Its first edition (2011) was organized by Parallel Post – an e-magazine in collaboration with Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST), Awantipora and was held annually thereafter. It was the first National Students Film festival in Kashmir. The festival is aimed to explore the budding talent among the students in the field of film making. Twenty-two films were screened in the first edition of the film festival dealing with various ‘hard-hitting and pressing issues’ such as livelihood issues, loss of tradition and heritage, conflict and its various facets of presentation, drug abuse etc.[2]
The objective of organizing this Film festival is to groom the potential of the young documentary film makers across the country and particularly from the Kashmir valley. Moreover, the festival will provide a launch pad for Kashmiri discourse whereby the upcoming student film makers will meet and interact with the established film makers and students throughout the country.
In this year 22 films directed by young artists were screened dealing with various ‘hard-hitting and pressing issues’.[2] Most of the films screened in the festival were about Kashmir Conflict [3] and its various facets of presentation, livelihood issues, loss of tradition and heritage, drug abuse etc.
A short animated movie ‘Hopscotch’ by cartoonist Malik Sajad revealed the story of divided Kashmir. Another documentary 'Patience on trial' by Naureen Farooq revolved around the wishes, hopes and needs of orphans.[4]
The film In limbo, Kashmiris Half-widow's a film by Lebul Nissa, Human Rights lawyer was about Half-widows of Kashmir ("half-widow", a term given to women whose husbands have completely disappeared and are still missing during the ongoing conflict in Kashmir.).[5]
The event was first of its kinds and was praised by many dignitaries present at the festival. Noted poet Poet Zareef Ahmed Zareef expressed joy and said there is a dire need of noble teachers who will lead budding talent into the right direction. "The way they presented the various aspects of Kashmir is admirable. God has gifted Kashmir with the best talent. The day will definitely come when we will produce the better film makers to show the true story of our Land".[4]
Twenty-two films were screened out of which Life on Wheels by Adil Shah won the award for the best film. Pankh by Nishant was adjudged the second prize winner and the third prize was given to three films - Lost by Ather Mohiuddin, Hopskotch by Malik Sajjad and Eidiyaan by Muhammad Irfan Dar and Aman Kaleem.[6]
| Film | Director | Duration | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behind the Darkness | Akif Mufti | 30 min | It is an attempt to unearth the history of Middle Ages when there was a tremendous intellectual activity in Islamic world. | |
| The Ninth Act (special screening) | Ali Emraann Kureshi | 25 min. | Experiment | |
| Pandiths | Mehak Fayaz | 16 min. | The documentary is about Kashmiri pundits who had not left Kashmir when other from their community where leaving, after militancy started in 1989. The documentary tries to look into the various aspects of their life in Kashmir, which unlike the migrant is mostly unreported. | |
| Sailing Through generations | Benish Ali Bhat | 15 min. | The film dicments the life of shikarawalas and the life lived in the lake city. | |
| Dal Lake | Turfat ul ain | 6 min | It is all about the mesmerizing beauty of Dal lake. | |
| Stairs of Faith | Jamshed Rasul and Team. | 7 min. | Stairs of faith is a documentary depicting the unflinching faith that people in Kashmir have in the Shrine of Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom popularly known in Kashmir as Makhdoom Sahab(R.A). | |
| Charare Sharief | - | 7 min. | It’s a travelogue | |
| Dreams of Despair | Nayeem Raja | 5 min. | - | |
| I love you maa | Harris Zargar | 6 min. | This movie is about crèche going children. | |
| Life on Wheels (Best Film) | Adil shah | 9 min. | The film is about the life of a bus conductor. Often seen is a vestigial organ of the society, the files an endeavour to look into the life of this sect of the society | |
| Lost- The unending Search (Shared 3rd prize with two others) | Athar Mohi-ud-din | 24 min. | The Documentary putting forward the misery of the families of those people who got disappeared in the tempest of the Indo-Pak conflict over Kashmir. | |
| Drug De-addiction | Nayeem Khan | 9 min. | This documentary is about the drug de-addiction. It mainly focuses on the rehabilitation of drug addicts. | |
| Hopscotch (Shared 3rd prize with two others) | Malik Sajad | 2 min. | This is a short animated movie. | |
| Half widows | Leb ul Nisa | 2 min. | Talks about the women folk who are present only in Kashmir. | |
| Pankh (2nd Prize winner) | Nishant Rana | 6 min. | Q-What makes a man fly?Ans.- A dream | |
| Raaga | Chirag Thakkar | 6 min. | A spiritual commentary on the essence of life. All of us have those moments, when life seems static and when the tables turn against one. This is astory of one such man in his thirties who re-visits that juncture of his life when a stranger helped him move on. Raaga! | |
| Zadah | Sushant. H. W. | 13 min. | Docu-fiction, Zadah -A socio-political love story. An attempt to understand and explain the prolonged and complex issue of the state of Kashmir personified as a woman oppressed between two patriarchal hypocrite society(s). The role of the media. And a question. | |
| Heritage Lost | Rohi Jehan | 8 min. | Just 100 years ago sericulture was largest revenue generating department of Kashmir. But now this industry is battling for survival. Our documentary under title ‘Heritage Lost’ has been made to highlight many issues related to this industry which includes the most important issue, that is, the valley once had one of the largest silk factories in the world. But now more than 50% of its land has been sold to different departments by the government to clear liabilities of employees. The process of selling this great industrial heritage is going on and nobody seems to be bothered about protecting it. | |
| Lungi vs Jeans (Special screening) | Nasir Ali Khan aka RJ Nasir | - | This is a comic movie which compares jeans and lungi culture. | |
| Patience on trial | Naureen Farooq | - | This movie is about Orphans. | |
| Eidyaan (Shared 3rd prize with two others) | M. Irfan Dar | 18 min. | Eidyaan is about a lost brother whose return is awaited in a household for over nine years. FICTION | |
| Land of no return | M. Gowhar Bhat | 13 min. | The movie is about the Tibetan refugees in India. |