Dissolving boundaries

The 7th annual South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) was held in Goa, India from October 25 to 28.
SAFF-2012 showcased the changing phases in Indian cinema. The festival organisers screened more than 40 films from all the South Asian countries, with a blend of different genres like classic films, short films, documentary films, mainstream films and premiere of a Marathi film, according to a press release.
The festival featured some Indian classics and popular recent films like “Rajneeti”, “Udaan” and many more. Films from South Asian countries included “Hot Days of Torkham” from Afghnaistan; “Amar Bondhu Rashed” from Bangladesh; “Seday” from Bhutan; “Insaaf” from Maldives; “Diyalee” from Nepal; “A Garden in Shigar”, “All that Jazz” from Pakistan; and “Nildiya Yahana” from Sri Lanka. Also screened were Indian regional films like “1:30 am” and “Ekaa Ekaa”.
Hosted by the South Asia Foundation with the theme “...dissolving boundaries”, SAFF also celebrated 100 years of Indian cinema. This was the first effort to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema at the South Asian level, in the presence of prominent filmmakers of all the South Asian countries.
South Asia Foundation received support from the ICCR and Public South Asia Foundation Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
Among the other highlights of the festival were Sanjay Chauhan's script writing workshop, filmmaker Rahul Mittra's announcement about the latest Hindi Cinema Project and the screening of the first HD Konkani film, “Mariola”, written and directed by Joe Rose.