THE fourth annual Vasaakh Film and Documentary Festival began at the FC College University here on Monday.
As many as 23 teams from different universities of the country and abroad have sent their documentaries for their screening at the festival.
On the opening day of the three-day festival, four of South Asia s best documentaries were screened followed by a panel discussion highlighting the importance of documentary making and the techniques involved.
Prakash Travelling Cinema was the first documentary showcased. It dwelt on the story of a man using a primitive projector as a vendor to earn his livelihood by showing films going place to place in an Indian neighbourhood.
The second was Invisible Neighbour, drawing reference from the Romanian-French conflict to the Indo-Pak context. Is Morr Par Kutch Nahi Hota a fiction about the futile struggle of a person to catch a bus on time, which he never actually did, and Samaam – the music, based on work of famous Indian singer MD Ramanathan (MDR), were the other documentaries shown.
After the midday break, two more documentaries were shown The Brick Story based on the problems of a labour and Out of the thin air.
During the discussion session, the panelists told the students about the techniques used in film-making and how to make a documentary attractive, including tips to select topics. Earlier, FC College-University s Head of Mass Communication Department Dr Saleem Abbas speaking at the inaugural ceremony said the festival was designed to make it a fun and a learning experience simultaneously because informal learning opportunities were as good as classroom teaching. He said all the universities of the country needed to particularly focus on the training of students in documentaries and film-making. FC College University Rector Dr Peter H Armacost welcoming the teams arriving from other universities stressed the importance of teaching film-making skills through such events. He said such platforms provided an excellent opportunity to impart training to students and spotlight the social problems of society at the same time.
Dean of Humanities Dr Waseem Anwar and IRC Director Nasir Sohail also spoke on the occasion.
Raza Shahid, an organiser of the event committee, said that by bringing together various educational institutes in the field of documentary and fiction film-making, the festival enabled students to learn the latest trends in the field of film-making and promote local culture and values. The three-day event also includes training sessions on video productions, discussions and a concluding award ceremony and cultural evening on April 20. Besides a large number of students and guests, Vice-Rector Dr Marcia Grant also attended the inauguration ceremony.
