MUMBAI: Its official! Renowned actress Sarika and veteran film director Jahnu Barua will head the two Film Juries at the 7 Jagran Film Festival, this year.
With over 90 films behind her, Sarika will head a five Member Indian Feature Film Jury for the Festival’s prestigious section, Indian Showcase. One of the most sought after sections of the festival, Indian Showcase stands apart for its class and presentation of awards. In the past few years, the Best feature Film Award has been presented to Marathi and Bengali language films. The best actor award last year was presented to Dulal Sarkar, an actor who is a midget.
Sarika who began her film career as a Child Artist in the film Majhhli Didi (The Middle Sister-1967) a Dharmendra-Meena Kumari starrer went on to make it big with films like Geet Gaata Chal, Khushboo (1975), Jaani Dushman (1979), Kranti (1981), Satte Pe Satta (1982), Razia Sultan (1983), Raj Tilak (1984) and lately Parzania (2005) and many others. Recipient of two National Film Awards Sarika made her television debut in Sony TV's Yudh which stars Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role. The Jury headed by her will decide on 16 awards in the feature film category.
Padma Bhushan Jahnu Barua is one of India’s foremost Film Directors winning ten National Film Awards. Mostly making his films in Assamese language, Jahnu dabbled into Hindi film making with Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara (I did not kill Gandhi) and Mumbai Cutting. Winner of several international awards, Jahnu Barua will head a three Member International Film Jury. The Jury for Shorts will watch 50 short films to decide on three international awards in the category.
1 July in New Delhi will present Cuba as the focus country at this year’s edition. As part of this initiative, the festival will present a 5-7 film package at the Festival. The films presented will travel to 16 cities of India with the festival.
Speaking on the partnership, Ambassador of Republic of Cuba Oscar J. Martinez Cordovés said,” Its indeed a matter of pride for us to partner with the largest travelling film festival in the world and take Cuban Cinema to so many cities in India. What we would be presenting to the people of India through this partnership is not just our films but a glimpse into our culture, history and contemporary life. I am glad we got this opportunity through Jagran Prakashan and thank them’. “
The Festival each year presents the Cinema of a country. The past years have seen the Cinemas of South Korea, Cyprus and the United States presented in the past editions of the festival. The 7 edition of Jagran Film Festival gets underway at New Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditoria from July 1, 2016 and after travelling through 14 cities will reach Mumbai for the Finale on 26 September 2016.
