By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, January 12, 2018: The 12th International Film Festival on art and artist got kick started on Friday.

Organised by the JD Centre of Art (JDCA) in collaboration with Odisha Tourism, the festival will showcase films short, long, narrative, documentary, animation, and film essays along with the panel discussions, lectures, and workshops.

Inaugurating the Festival, chief minister Naveen Patnaik hailed JDCA for its efforts to promote Odisha’s rich art and artists.

“With its focus on literature, the 12th Film Festival on Art and Artist organised by Jatin Das Centre of Arts is a befitting tribute to our great heritage of art and culture. Imaging the art and artists is one of the significant endeavours to preserve, document, evaluate, renew and improve these art forms in order to save them for the prosperity as a source of inspiration. The continued efforts of JDCA in this direction are praiseworthy,” he said.

Attending the inaugural function of the Festival, Patnaik referred to first Odia film ‘Seeta Bibaha saying, “The journey of Odia film started in 1936 with the production of ‘Seeta Bibaha’, coinciding with the creation of Odisha as a separate state and a synergy between language, literature and filmdom.”

He also talked about literature, Fakir Mohan Senapati’s timeless work ‘Rebati’, the litterateurs like Kalindi Charan Panigrahi, Gopinath Mohanty and social activists Gopabandhu Das and Madhusudan Das who had inspired nationalistic and linguistic spirit through their writings.

Patnaik also exhorted the filmmakers to come forward to work on documentaries and bio-pics on the literary souls.

Total 39 films of 11 countries in 15 foreign languages will be screened at IDCOL Auditorium till January 14.

The international award winning films like ‘Maya Miriga’, ‘Ahalyara Bahaghara’, ‘Mayurbhanj ra Chhau Nrutya’, ‘Dhauligiri ra Shanti Stupa’ and ‘Pattachitra’ directed by late Nirad Mohapatra, veteran director in Odia cinema, will be screened as part of paying tribute to him.

A dozen Odia films will be screened during the 3-day International Film Festival.

Among the films, Iranian film ‘The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi, Argentinian film ‘The Secret in Their Eyes ‘, Swiss film ‘My Life as a Zucchini’ by Claude Barrass, Tom Lowe’s ‘Timescapes’, ‘Lakshmi ra Abhisara’ directed by Raj Gopal Mishra, Gurvinder Singh’s ‘Chauthi Kuta’, Satyajit Ray’s ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ and Nirmal Chandra’s ‘The Face behind the Mask’ will be screened during the festival.

The films will be screened from 10 am to 8 pm till Jan 14.

Besides, an exhibition showcasing traditional handicrafts, handlooms, and art books will be held during the festival.