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AbilityFest 2007, the second India
International Disability Film Festival, recently held a four-day
celebration of the celluloid in Chennai.
Several distinguished members from the film
fraternity were present on the occasion. The people of Chennai
witnessed screenings of more than 25 international and Indian
movies at the Ability Fest, from October 6 - 8 - at two venues:
Woodlands Theatre, Royapettah, and the South Indian Film
Chamber, Anna Salai.
Ability Foundation, a national
cross-disability organisation that strives for the rights and
social inclusion of disabled people, intended to sensitise
people to disability even further and break stereotypes
associated with disability.
Celebrated film-makers - Govind Nihalani, Dev
Benegal, Nafisa Ali, Ravi K. Chandran and Prakash Raj - along
with two leaders of the disability sector - Salil Chaturvedi and
Neenu Kewlani - formed the jury members of the competition
section of AbilityFest 2007, '60 Seconds To Fame' to adjudge the
winners, with the winners to receive prizes valued at Rs 2.25
lakh.
The inaugural was hosted by actress Suhasini
Maniratnam. This was followed by the sensitive Japanese film 'Ai
Rabu Yo (I Love You)'. The valedictory was both a visual and
listening treat with the 1920s classic silent film 'Shiraz'
screened with live music by Sreeram Parasuram and his group.
The organising committee of AbilityFest
comprised C K Ranganathan, CMD Cavinkare - festival president, P
K Nair, former director, National Film Archives and festival
director who is also the curator for the festival, Jayshree
Raveendran, executive director, Ability Foundation, and festival
chairperson, Revathy, actress/director and festival
vice-chairperson.
A highlight of the film festival was the
introduction, for the first time in Chennai, of the concept of
'Audio Description' in a film festival - to assist the visually
impaired to "watch" each and every frame being shown on screen,
a soft voice described the visual settings on the screen.
R Rangaraj |
