Twenty one awards in four sections — 'Best feature film', 'Best short film', 'Best documentary film' and 'Best animation film' — both in national and international categories were given away.
Coming out of the shadows of war zone, the cold desert of Kargil is basking in the new arc-lights of cinema.
Thanks to the second edition of Kargil International Film Festival (KIFF), the cold desert is on a high after the cinematic extravaganza became a runaway success with hundreds of film-lovers thronging the venue to be part of the new history of Kargil.
Around 85 films from 29 countries were screened in the three-day festival, which concluded at Syed Mehdi Memorial Auditorium, Kargil on Wednesday. From Singapore to Spain to Iran to Israel, the filmmakers from across the globe had submitted their works for screening.
Twenty one awards in four sections — 'Best feature film', 'Best short film', 'Best documentary film' and 'Best animation film' — both in national and international categories were given away.
Golden Ibex award was also introduced this year to honour the film-makers who have done exceptionally well in their story telling with their limited resources.
Three films which won Golden Ibex award this year include 'There's Always Tomorrow' by Shilpa Krishnan Shukla of Singapore, 'Sentience' by SJ Van Breda of Canada and 'Irony' by Radheya Jegatheva of Australia.
"The response was overwhelming," said Meraj Siddiqui, Director KIFF adding "this will help befriend Kargil to the outside world and vice versa".
Interestingly, the festival was held in Kargil which has no cinema hall and remains cut off from the rest of the world for six months in a year. "This area is being seen as a war zone and conflict zone and we wanted to break this myth and change the perspective of the people towards Kargil," said Sajjad Kargili, coordinator of the KIFF.
Situated at an altitude of 2,676 metres, Kargil witnessed the bloodiest war between India and Pakistan in 1999. Around 527 Indians were killed and 1360 others injured in the war that was fought on one of the most difficult and inhospitable terrains in the summer of 1999.
The festival was held in an auditorium because there is no cinema theatre in the region. The organisers used projector to show the films and it worked as hundreds of people turned up for three days to watch the movies.
"We are trying to upgrade this auditorium. We have talked to the leaders who came for the festival and they have assured that they will develop this auditorium on modern lines. Cinema means a lot for Kargil as we are the people remains disconnected with the world. This cinema will bridge us with the outside world," said Kargili.
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