Srinagar, Sep 10 (KNO): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that Jammu and Kashmir must move beyond being merely a beautiful filming location and become a place from where its own stories emerge, talent is discovered and films are conceived and created.
Addressing the closing ceremony of the first-ever International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir (IFFJK) here, Chief Minister Omar as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said, “The four-day festival had brought filmmakers and audiences together, connected established professionals with young aspirants and created a platform for cinema from Jammu and Kashmir to engage with India and the world.”
“You came as our guests, I hope you leave as friends of Jammu and Kashmir and partners in what we are trying to build,” the Chief Minister said.
120 FILMS FROM 30-PLUS COUNTRIES SCREENED
The Chief Minister said 120 films from more than 30 countries were screened during the festival, but its deeper value lay in the connections created between filmmakers, young talent and audiences. “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,” he said.
He congratulated those recognised during the festival and thanked the jury, filmmakers, delegates and members of the film fraternity who participated in the inaugural edition.
‘THE SCREEN CAME BACK TO KASHMIR’
Recalling his remarks at the opening of the festival about Jammu and Kashmir’s long association with cinema, CM Omar said the past few evenings had witnessed something special as films that shaped Kashmir’s visual memory were screened again in the region. “Those films and others from that era have returned to Dal Lake,” he said.
He said films including Junglee, Arzoo, Kashmir Ki Kali and Kabhi Kabhie had been screened against the very landscapes that helped make them memorable. “For decades, Kashmir travelled to audiences through a cinema screen. This week, in a sense, the screen came back to Kashmir,” Omar said.
‘NOSTALGIA CANNOT DEFINE OUR FUTURE’
The Chief Minister, however, said nostalgia could not define the future of Jammu and Kashmir’s film industry. “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.
CM Omar said Jammu and Kashmir 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.
FOCUS ON LOCAL STORIES, YOUNG TALENT
The Chief Minister called for a two-way relationship with the film industry, saying Jammu and Kashmir should welcome filmmakers from India and across the world while creating opportunities for local talent to find audiences and collaborators beyond the region.
“At the heart of this must be investment in our young people,” he said, describing their participation in the festival as particularly encouraging.
CM Omar said the success of IFFJK a decade from now should not be measured merely by the number of films screened or personalities attending, but by the careers launched, opportunities and collaborations created and the stories from Jammu and Kashmir that reach audiences across India and the world.
He said the presence of filmmakers and artists had given the inaugural edition its stature and expressed hope that the inspiration and opportunities created through the festival would help a new generation from Jammu and Kashmir find its place in cinema.
IFFJK SHOULD BECOME YEAR-ROUND PLATFORM
Omar said IFFJK should grow beyond a four-day annual event into a continuous platform for screening, learning, training and collaboration throughout the year. “Government can provide a platform and an enabling environment, but a vibrant film culture must be sustained by the creative community itself,” he said.
He said the future of the festival should be shaped by what organisers had learned from participants and audiences during its inaugural edition.
CINEMA CAN CREATE JOBS, STRENGTHEN LOCAL ECONOMY
Highlighting the wider economic potential of cinema, the Chief Minister said filmmaking could support professionals, local services, artists, jobs and businesses. “Films coming to Jammu and Kashmir should therefore leave behind not only valuable images but also skills, employment and stronger local capabilities,” he said.
He said the benefits of filmmaking should extend beyond the images captured on screen and contribute to building stronger local skills and professional capabilities.
‘COME BACK TO SHOOT, WRITE, TEACH, COLLABORATE’
Addressing visiting filmmakers, actors and delegates, CM Omar extended an invitation to return to Jammu and Kashmir. “Come back to shoot, write, teach, collaborate and discover more of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
He said the mountains and lakes may bring filmmakers to the region once, but the experience of working in Jammu and Kashmir, along with its stories and people, should encourage them to return.
URGES YOUNG STORYTELLERS TO BEGIN
Addressing young filmmakers and storytellers, CM Omar urged them to learn the craft, experiment and begin telling stories from their neighbourhoods, villages, families and generations. “Some of cinema’s most powerful voices are intimate and local. What matters is that the voice be authentic and the craft remain strong,” he said.
He said the participation of young people in the festival had demonstrated the potential for a new generation of filmmakers from Jammu and Kashmir.
‘J&K SHOULD INCREASINGLY REFLECT ITSELF THROUGH CINEMA’
Reflecting on the setting of the closing ceremony, CM Omar said Dal Lake had for centuries reflected the mountains, sky and changing seasons around it, while cinema had reflected the spirit of the world. “Perhaps the opportunity before us now is for Jammu and Kashmir increasingly to reflect itself through cinema—to tell its own stories, its own voices with confidence and to share them with audiences across India and the world,” he said.
He said this would allow Jammu and Kashmir not only to be represented on screen by others but also to tell its own stories and present its own voices to audiences across the country and the world.
‘CURTAIN COMES DOWN, BUT NOT THE IDEA’
CM Omar said the curtain has come down on the first edition of IFFJK, but expressed hope that it would not mark the end of the idea behind the festival.
He said if filmmakers from Jammu and Kashmir were, years from now, participating in festivals across the world, the first IFFJK could be remembered as the beginning of that journey.
The Chief Minister further thanked the filmmakers, artists, jury members, delegates, young filmmakers and audiences for being part of the inaugural festival and expressed hope of welcoming them back to Jammu and Kashmir—(KNO)