Kolkata, 23rd September, 2023: National Award Winning Film maker Gaurang Jalan represented as a member of the International Jury for Cinema and Theatre from India to Cairo for Film Festival. There are Jury members from countries like the USA, Greece, Egypt, Jordan, China, Palestine, Poland, South Africa other than India. Gaurang Jalan was conferred with the coveted National Award by the President of India for his latest film Avijatrik (The Wanderlust of Apu) for best Bengali Film, in September 2022. This film won 27 National & International awards in all.
The 7th Awladna International Forum for Arts of the Gifted which is under the auspices of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El- Sisi, President of the Arab republic of Egypt, in association with Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Social Solidarity, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Tourism& Antiquities, National Council for Women etc is having its annual Film Festival from 22nd to 29th September, 2023 in Cairo, Egypt. This Festival is in integration with the Afro-Chinese Arts and Folklore Festival, under the slogan of “What a wonderful world!” 41 Countries are participating in this unique International Festival of Arts, Music & Films.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Gaurang Jalan, National Award Winner & Film maker said, “It is a matter of great honor to be selected as a member of the International Jury for Films, on behalf of India. Representing our country makes one feel extremely proud. 41 countries have sent their films to this special festival for the Gifted, which is under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Government of Egypt. There are 4 films from India. Indians and Indian films, cuisine are loved by Egyptians. I remember during my last visit to Cairo in 2015, with Mr Amitabh Bachchan, who was here for the Nile festival, people went simply crazy to get a glimpse of him. Amongst the new era stars they love Shah Rukh Khan. Indian & Egyptian culture have a lot of similarities, being ancient civilizations.”
As Producer of movies, he has been associated with Gaurang Films which has produced Award winning films– Feature, Documentary & Short – in multiple Indian languages (Hindi, English, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya & Bhojpuri).Our film “Safed Haathi”(White Elephant) is the recipient of the ‘Golden Lotus’(from President of India), for being the Best Children’s Film, “Aaj Ka Robinhood” (Return of Robinhood) received ‘Special Mention’ by the Unicef Jury in Berlin Children Film Festival, “Anokha Moti”(Magic Pearl) participated in 22 International Festivals & was widely appreciated. In recent times, we have also embarked on making films in DV format & short films. Notable amongst them was “Aami”(l AM) which won the best film and best documentary at the Kids for Kids Festival at Athens, Greece, besides having been screened at Chicago and was also invited to “The Oprah Winfrey Show”! Other productions include “Fish for Thought”,” Last Lines”, “Who am I”, “Flickering Angels” and “The Men Who Saved Killapara” to name a few. In all Gaurang Films has made more than 15 Children films.
This International Cinema and Arts Festival, aims for supporting the Gifted and creating a cultural and artistic platform that expresses their creativity, talents, arts, to enhance the process of their societal integration at the local and international levels. Such atmosphere is attained by opening artistic outlets for children from different countries of the world in the fields of cinema and children’s arts, in order to build a cultural bridge that connects different international cultures and works on exchanging creative experiences in order to encourage children and their families to develop skills and awareness about children related issues worldwide. The other Jury from India is Priya Ramasubban.
The films selected from India in Cairo Festival 2023 are:
- Salaam Venky (Hindi) – Directed by Revathy Asha
- Montur Montoh (Assamese) – Directed by Ramen Borah
- DHH (Hindi/Gujarati) – Directed by Manish Saini
- Giddh -The Scavenger (Hindi) – Directed by Manish Saini
