Margao, Nov 22: After its debut at the film city in Noida in 2014, it is now Goa's turn to host the 2nd National Youth Film Festival (NYFF) organised by the Nehru Bal Sangh (NBS), Delhi at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on December 5 and 6, 2015 with a special category being introduced for the first time for Goan students of Classes IX to XII showcasing the films made by the young film makers.
Stating that the NYFF formal inauguration will be held on Saturday, December 5 at 4.30 pm, the NBS president Ashok Sahota informed the media that "the NYFF will showcase the short films of three to five minutes duration made by the Classes IX to XII students on the themes of 'My Discovery of India' and 'Skilled India - Developed India' that can be shot either on a mobile phone, video camera or any other mode of visual recording. Entries can be submitted either in English or Hindi and if in any other regional language, it has to have subtitles. There is no entry fee for the contest and the last date for receiving entries from Goan students has been now extended to Monday, November 30, 2015. We have already received 150 entries from young students from 36 cities in 23 states of the nation. However, only 120 films were selected by the renowned jury from which the best 25 films were shortlisted by them to be screened during the festival that is open to the public. There will also be a Q&A session with each student film maker."
Remarking that the NYFF objective is to promote national integration, Sahota divulged that there will be three awards - Gold (Rs 20,000), Silver (Rs 15,000) and Bronze (Rs 10,000) and hinted of plans to make this an annual international event in Goa alongside the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) with two categories - foreign and Indian.
The Goa NBS convenor Evencio Quadros along with Goa NBS secretary Jane Rodrigues and NYFF Goa coordinator Valerian Mendonca further informed that Sharda Mandir, Panjim is the only Goan school that has confirmed its participation out of the 25 schools in the country and expressed confidence of better participation, stating that they had communicated with all the schools in the state. Sahota revealed that for the workshop, 50 seats had been reserved for Goan students.
"We have chosen Goa as the festival venue so as to enable youth from all over the country to get a glimpse of this beautiful state and acquaint themselves with its rich art, culture and enormous tourist potential. Besides, providing an opportunity to Goan students to interact and exchange ideas with the young film makers from all over the country. Also, during the NYFF, a workshop will be held on 'film making' by Subhash Ghai's Academy Whistling Woods for the benefit of the participating students on Sunday, December 6 between 9.30 am and 12.30 pm followed by the movie screenings from 2 pm onwards. Eminent film personalities such as Subhash Ghai; Shantanu Shorey; music director Shantanu Moitra; Zee Q channel head Aparna Bhosle; Children's Film Society of India chairman Mukesh Khanna; FICCI Animation, VFX gaming and comics forum chairman and producer of Little Krishna series Ashish Kulkarni will be participating in the NYFF," Sahota said.
For registration details and the rules and regulations of the contest, students can visit the website http://goo.gl/RSvubY.