Srinagar, Sep 9 (KNS): From stories of displacement and memory to Kashmir's traditional craftsmanship and changing social landscape, the first International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir entered its third day on Wednesday with the spotlight increasingly shifting towards the region's own cinematic voices.

The festival, which opened on September 7 and concludes on Thursday, has brought filmmakers, actors, technicians and cinema enthusiasts from India and abroad to multiple venues across Jammu and Kashmir, while its programming combines international cinema with films and creative work rooted in the Union Territory.

A major focus of the festival's competitive programming is the newly introduced J&K Select section, for which five films by filmmakers from Jammu and Kashmir have been shortlisted.

The selected films, Searching for the Grandpa, directed by Mohammad Wali; Arifa, directed by Rohin Ravendran Nair; Batt Koch (The Lost Lane), by Siddarth Koul and Ankit Wali; Tasrufdaar (Djinns of Kashmir), directed by Kapil Mattoo; and Naqsh-e-Daur (The Story of Ghulam Nabi Dhar), directed by Baba Tassaduq Hussain bring distinctly local narratives to the competitive platform.

The films span themes of childhood, family and memory, displacement and identity, mystery and the scars of Kashmir's past, besides the region's traditional art and craftsmanship.

Naqsh-e-Daur, for instance, chronicles the life and legacy of Padma Shri awardee and downtown Srinagar woodcarver Ghulam Nabi Dhar, while Batt Koch explores displacement and the enduring idea of home through the story of a Kashmiri migrant family. Searching for the Grandpa follows two children in a Kashmiri village during Eid, bringing an intimate rural story to the screen.

The emergence of these films comes against a broader conversation at IFFJK on whether Kashmir can move from being primarily a cinematic location to becoming a source of stories, filmmakers and creative talent in its own right.

Filmmakers and actors attending the festival have stressed the need for cinema to look beyond Kashmir's familiar landscapes and explore its people, traditions, food, folklore and lived experiences.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

Actor Divyenndu Sharma said cinema should not restrict Kashmir to songs and scenic sequences, while filmmaker Imtiaz Ali underlined the need to create an ecosystem in which local artists can develop and find wider audiences. Actor Pankaj Tripathi also pointed to the growing body of short films being made by young Kashmiris, including filmmakers working with limited resources and mobile phones.

The emphasis on local talent has also found space in the festival's policy discussions. On the second day, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo called for a sustainable cinematic ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir, highlighting film education, skill development, investment, incentives and a more effective single-window clearance mechanism as important components of the region's film future.

Wednesday's programme also brings cinema out of conventional theatres and into Kashmir's iconic landscape. The festival's floating cinema on Dal Lake is scheduled to screen Kashmir Ki Kali, the third classic Hindi film being shown against the backdrop of the lake after Junglee and Arzoo. The initiative has emerged as one of the festival's most distinctive attractions, reversing the familiar relationship between Kashmir and cinema: instead of Kashmir appearing on screen, audiences watch films from within one of the landscapes that helped define the Valley's cinematic image.

The festival's Jammu leg has simultaneously sought to foreground Dogri cinema and the region's cultural traditions, with filmmakers and artists associated with Dogri-language cinema being felicitated during screenings and cultural programmes.

With more than 130 films from over 30 countries being showcased during the four-day festival, IFFJK has sought to combine international cinema with a renewed focus on Jammu and Kashmir's own creative community.(KNS)