The VIIIth Annual Friendship Film Festival-2017 (FFF), organised by the Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) in New Delhi, jointly with the Citizens’ Film Forum (CFF) and the Embassies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in New Delhi, was inaugurated at 24, Firoz Shah Road, New Delhi, on November 27, 2017.
The FFF-2017 will continue till December 2, 2017. The festival will show both feature and short films, and will have English sub-titles or will be in English. Representatives from all CIS countries participated in the inaugural function. After the inaugural ceremony, a video on FFF – -2016 was screened, followed by the short film “Roerich Pact – Time to Gather Stones…”
H.E. Mr Armen Martirosyan, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to India, expressing his happiness over the wider exposure achieved on Armenian culture and country’s development through FFF noted that his country has become an attractive location for Indian film making. He lauded the efforts of the RCSC and CFF in this regard.
H.E. Mr Farhod Arzeiv, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, graced the occasion, and Mr Muzaffar B. Kamilov, Second Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, on behalf of the Ambassador wished the FFF a great success.
Earlier, welcoming a large gathering of film-enthusiasts, media persons, Compatriots, critics, students, etc., Mr Alexey Baev, Deputy Director, RSSC, referred to the tremendous response the FFF has won in their earlier editions thereby encouraging the organisers to go ahead with this successful joint venture.
Mr Vimal Mehta, Hon. Secretary, CFF, in his introductory remarks, threw light on the overall activities of his organisation which went a long way in promoting the comprehension of each other’s cultural life, development in cinematography, etc. He described the manifold activities of CFF through the showcasing of latest films thereupon encouraging film-makes, and pointed towards extending the conduct of FFF to SAARC countries in the days to come.
Wishing the FFF-2017 a grant success, Ms Nana Mgeladze, Counsellor (Culture), Embassy of the Russian Federation in India, pointed out that there would be more Russian film festivals in India in future. She referred to the unique response received on Russian movies from Indian audience both in Delhi and Goa at the recent Russian film festival. She introduced Mr Alexey Govorukhin, Executive Director, The Hollywood Reporter, who was just back from Goa, was all praise for the wonderful passion of Russian people for the Indian movies. He paid glowing tributes to Raj Kapoor and hailed the contributions of Kapoor family.
In his address, the Chief Guest Mr. T. P. Aggarwal, President, Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association, Chairmam, Film-Makers Ciombine, Ex-President, Film Federation of India, referred to the role of FFF as a creative endeavour in cultural exchange. He said he was looking forward to provide more Indian films to be part of future festivals.
Mr Igor Pilipenko, First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Belarus, pointed out that the innovative project like the FFF always gives strong impetus to people-to-people relations and mutual understanding.
The festival is going on in Russian Centre for Science & Culture, 24, Firoz Shah Road, New Delhi, Near Mandi House Metro Station till 2nd December.