Srinagar, Sept 10 (JKNS): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said Jammu and Kashmir must move beyond being merely a filming destination and emerge as a place where stories originate, talent is discovered and films are conceived and created.
Addressing the gathering during the closing ceremony of the first International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir (IFFJK), as per news agency JKNS, CM Omar said the inaugural edition had brought filmmakers and audiences together while connecting established professionals with young aspirants from the region.
“Four days ago, we gathered here to raise the curtain on the first International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir. At that time, the festival was an idea being tested, an invitation, an experiment and, above all, a hope that Jammu and Kashmir could create a meaningful platform for cinema,” he said.
He said the festival had found both an audience and a purpose, with conversations spanning storytelling, craft, technology and collaboration.
“120 films from over 30 countries reflect the festival’s scale, but its deeper value lies in the connections it has created—a young writer meeting a director, an aspiring filmmaker learning from a professional or two people meeting here who may one day make a film together,” Omar said.
Congratulating those recognised during the festival, he thanked the jury, filmmakers, delegates, members of the film fraternity and audiences for contributing to the inaugural edition.
“You came as our guests; I hope you leave as friends of Jammu and Kashmir and partners in what we are trying to build,” he said.
Recalling Jammu and Kashmir’s long association with cinema, Omar said several iconic films had made Kashmir part of the visual memory of generations of Indians.
“Over the last few evenings, something rather special has happened. Those films and others from that era have returned to Dal Lake. ‘Jamri’, ‘Aarzoo’, ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ and now ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ have been screened against the very landscape that helped make them memorable,” he said.
“For decades, Kashmir travelled to audiences through a cinema screen. This week, in a sense, the screen came back to Kashmir,” Omar added.
He, however, said nostalgia alone could not define the future and stressed the need for Jammu and Kashmir to develop its own filmmaking ecosystem.
“Our ambition must go beyond being a beautiful filming location. Jammu and Kashmir must increasingly become a place from which stories emerge, talent is discovered and films are conceived and created,” he said.
Omar said the region had far more to offer cinema than its landscapes, with stories rooted in its cities, towns and villages, as well as its languages, literature, music, craft, history and everyday lives.
“Our landscapes may bring filmmakers here, but our stories, our people and our professional filmmaking environment can bring them back,” he said.
He called for a two-way relationship in which filmmakers from India and abroad are welcomed while local talent gets opportunities to find audiences and collaborators beyond Jammu and Kashmir.
“At the heart of this must be investment in our young people. Their participation in the festival has been especially encouraging,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the success of IFFJK a decade from now should be measured not merely by the films screened or personalities attending it, but by the careers, opportunities, collaborations and stories from Jammu and Kashmir that reach audiences across India and the world.
He said the festival should grow beyond a four-day annual event and become a continuous platform for screening, learning, …
