SAARC Film Festival 2016

The SAARC Film Festival held in Colombo, has over the last four years gained momentum for promoting some of the best films from the SAARC Region. The SAARC Cultural Centre, in keeping with its mandate of promoting culture in the region through different modes of art, will once again showcase films from the region as cultural expressions at its forthcoming SAARC Film Festival.  The SAARC Film Festival is different from the rest, in that SAARC Member States nominate some of their best films that showcase the culture of the SAARC countries, in the form of film.  A reputed panel of adjudicators select the best films, and awards are given as incentive to continue producing good films for the region.

The SAARC Film festival in Colombo, marks an event unique to the region, where through the medium of cinema, the festival has become a forum of people to people interaction, as well as the understanding and savoring of culture through the medium of cinema, where the films from the different SAARC Countries, are not merely a tool of entertainment, but rather one of cultural awareness as well as something that would convey an inherent message indigenous to a particular member country of SAARC and to a particular region of the world. The Festival has over the years grown, and this year in 2016, the Festival hopes to expand, with workshops and parallel events that would further enhance South Asian Cinema. The Film Festival will give all member states an opportunity to screen some of the best films from the region.

Cinema is a form of art, and today with easy accessibility of advanced digital knowledge this medium of cinema has become very powerful. The SAARC Region has produced some films with a standard of excellence. In 2016, the SAARC Film Festival will focus on feature and short films first screened AFTER May 2014, from all Member States, inviting directors of these movies for workshops as well as recognizing the best movie- feature film/Short Film screened within the stipulated time frame.

The festival will take place in Colombo, Sri Lanka over a period of 6 days from the 1st – 6th of June 2016.  The Festival will also include a workshop with well-known film directors.