The Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in Hyderabad is organising what it says is the first-ever Urdu Film Festival by any academic institution from Friday, 17 March, as per the organisers.
Inaugurated with a documentary showcasing the contribution of the Urdu language and culture to Indian cinema at 7 pm in the MANUU’s IMC preview theatre, the three-day festival is expected to feature a diverse selection of films, including a six-part documentary on the Urdu language and culture and Indian cinema.
“Many seminars on Urdu have been conducted all these years by an academic institution. So we thought of conducting a film festival for the first time,” festival convenor Imtiaz Alam told South First.
Meanwhile, a three-day documentary filmmaking workshop started at the MANUU on Thursday.
The film festival begins after the workshop every day.
Contribution of Urdu to Indian cinema
Imtiaz noted that the festival would be highlighting the way Urdu as a language has contributed and increased Indian cinema’s reach to the audience.
About the schedule on Friday, he said, “We (IMC) have made three documentaries of around half an hour. They will be focusing on the history of Indian cinema, Urdu dialogues, stories, songs, ghazals (poetry), verses and other literature. After that we will be showing the film Mughal-E-Azam.”
MANUU Vice-Chancellor Syed Ainul Hasan emphasised the importance of documentary filmmaking as a tool for raising awareness about important social issues and promoting social change.
“The festival was his (the VC’s) idea,” said Imtiaz.
“After we organised a sports film festival, he suggested organising the Urdu film festival. We believe that cinema’s idea is not only entertainment but to educate as well.”
Read more: Telugu filmmakers are smitten with the UK. Here’s why
Filmmaking workshop
The varsity is organising it in collaboration with the Mumbai-based Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA).
“Students from several institutions such as MANUU, EFLU, Osmania University, and other freelancers are attending the workshop to learn or improve the skill,” Imtiaz said.
Eminent award-winning filmmakers Kamlesh K Mishra and Santosh Pathare are expected to interact with and guide the participants.
Describing filmmaking as a difficult job, VC Hasan hoped that the participants would gain knowledge about documentary making and will come out with some good input.
“Perception and presentation as two important aspects of filmmaking,” he pointed out.
