An international film festival today kicked off here which will showcase works related to persons with disabilities in what has been billed as a first- of-its-kind effort.
The three-day International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities is being organised by the Department of Persons with Disabilities of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the run up to the 'International Day of Persons with Disabilities' on Dec. 3.
"The film festival has been organised as part of our efforts to empower persons with disabilities. This festival inspires us to empower PwDs," Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, said during the inaugural session.
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The session was attended, among others, by noted filmmaker -lyricist Gulzar, his daughter and director Meghna Gulzar, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishna Pal Gurjar, theatre personality Sanjana Kapoor, Secretary of the department of persons with disabilities, Lov Verma.
Gehlot said that Indian culture inspires people to believe that "whoever is born has the right to live, be that person mentally, physically, intellectually challenged".
The minister added that the Narendra Modi dispensation was committed to providing "all possible" modern facilities to persons with disabilities and sought the co-operation of NGOs and state governments for ensuring effective implementation of schemes in this regard which the ministry has envisaged.
Gehlot listed various measures that the government has undertaken in the interests of disabled persons and also referred to the 'Accessible India Campaign', which is to be launched by the prime minister on December 3 with the goal of facilitating ease of access for disabled persons in government buildings, public transportation systems and the information technology field.
"We must provide a platform and opportunities for the disabled. We have designed programmes and our officers are working on it.
"But we also need participations from state governments and NGOs. This will help us make this effective for empowering persons with disabilities," he said.
Addressing the gathering, Gulzar said that films "can change" lives and vision. Stating that disabled persons were part of normal society, he sought to term them "specially- abled for the talent they possess".
Gulzar likened children with disabilities to the sky,
saying, "We see such children in society, they are around, but we don't look at them. It is a strange attitude. It is like we roam throughout the day, but never look at the sky. Sky is not in our focus, we ignore that sky gives you the best sight.
"We never focus on it (sky), we are all engrossed on earth. These children, part of society, are like that. Keep looking at them," he said before reciting a poem that was acknowledged by attendees with a round of applause.
Meanwhile, an audio-visual message from Bollywood actor Salman Khan was played during the event in which he talks of the need for making theatres accessible.
The festival, which began today with the screening of Marathi film, 'Yellow', will see the screening of 40 competitive movies (feature/documentary/short films) while popular films like 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' and 'Margarita with a Straw' will be showcased in the non-competitive section.
The closing ceremony of the festival is expected to be attended by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and film personalities like Vivek Oberoi and Sanjay Suri.
