The fifth edition of Jagran Film Festival kick-started here today with the screening of Anurag Kashyap's psychological thriller 'Ugly'.
The opening ceremony of the four-day festival was attended by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, National award-winning director Hansal Mehta, 'Lootera' helmer Vikramaditya Motwane, actor Rahul Bhat, who stars in 'Ugly', among others.
'Ugly', which will release on September 19, was screened at Cannes last year and the Asian premiere was recently held at the Ladakh International Film Festival.
"It is a thought-provoking, commercially entertaining film. 'Ugly' reflects the present condition of the society," Rahul said.
Besides Rahul, the film also stars Ronit Roy, Girish Kulkarni and Tejaswini Kolhapure.
The Indian Showcase and the International Competition sections at this year's festival will feature 20 films each.
"I have been associated with this festival for a long time now. It is a lovely experience," said Motwane, who is also one of the producers of 'Ugly'.
Filmmaker Amol Palekar is heading the jury for the Indian competition of feature films, while Bengali filmmaker Goutam Ghose will judge the international short film competition.
The short film section, called 'Jagran shorts', will present a collection of 20 international short films.
"It is the tradition of JFF to present something special and this year we are introducing a special section in 'cinema of the uprising' which consists of seven very special films," said Basant Rathore of the Jagran Group.
"Freedom of human spirit has been a subject close to the Jagran philosophy and that is why we have decided to choose this subject and the films made around this theme," he added.
Prominent films to be showcased includes 'Beatriz's War' (East Timor), 'Outside The Law' (Algeria/Tunisia, France), 'Battleship Potemkin' (Russia - Silent), 'The Trial of Joan of Arc' (France), 'Birsa Munda' (India), 'Netaji Suibhash Chandra Bose' (India) and Kerala Verma Pazhassi Raja (India).
This year the festival will travel to 14 cities including Lucknow, Ranchi, Kanpur, Bhopal, Agra and will culminate in Mumbai.
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