BHUBANESWAR, Oct 16, 2012: As an attempt to voice issues on disability, the We Care Film Fest-II commenced at the Bhanja Kala Mandap here on Sunday.

The event is being organised by Aaina, an organisation working on issues of disability, in collaboration with NGO Brotherhood Foundation.

Inaugurating the two-day film fest, political activist and renowned filmmaker Gautam Ghosh admired the initiative as a commendable attempt to create awareness among the youth. “It is actually an ability issue in true sense, and we need to be compassionate about the issue,” he remarked. Ortel CEO Jagi Mangat Panda also applauded the initiative.

Brotherhood Foundation Director Satish Kapoor informed that the awarded films from the festival would be nominated to the international We Care fest. “It is an educational travelling film fest proposing to travel with a motto to generate awareness among the youth,” he said. From next year, this fest would travel across the world, he added.

State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities Kasturi Mohapatra along with noted literary personality Devdas Chhotray, TCS CSR manager Priya Mohapatra, IMC, Dhenkanal Director Mrinal Chatterjee and Odia cine star Akash DasNayak were present on the occasion.

“The success of the festival last year in spreading awareness on disability among the general public encouraged us to convert it into an annual event,” said Aaina Secretary Sneha Mishra.

The festival is to showcase award-winning films with durations ranging from one minute to two hours putting into perspective the diversity of disability issues. Apart from post-screening panel discussions, the short documentary film competition in the one-minute, three-minute and five-minute category issue is another feature of the film fest.

There are 21 such documentaries developed by enthusiasts from Odisha to be screened. The winners will receive cash awards and citations and have the opportunity to compete at the national festival. The script writing competition for schoolchildren on “Inclusion and inclusive education” is another popular feature of the Odisha edition. The winning script may be developed into a documentary film by one of the filmmakers.

There are many misconceptions among the common people in society over the issue of disability. Such festivals create opportunities to dispel many myths about disability.

It is to be noted that the United Nations has decided to declare 2013 to 2022 as the Decade of Disability. In this context, initiatives like We Care voicing various disability issues have become more relevant.

Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com