South Asian Film Festival  | saff 2012 - OCTOBER 25-28, 2012

The South Asian Film Festival (saff-2012) will be inaugurated on October 25, 2012, Thursday at 6:00 pm at Open Air Amphitheater, Kala Academy Goa, D.B Marg, Campal, Goa.

Screening will take place at ESG I & II from 11:00am onwards from October 26-28, 2012.

South Asia Foundation hosts the 7th annual South Asian Film Festival-saff-2012 at Goa with the theme ...dissolving boundaries. saff is also celebrating the remarkable journey of "100 glorious years of Indian Cinema". This is the first ever effort to celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema that is being celebrated at the South Asian Regional level in the presence of prominent film-makers of all the South Asian Countries.

saff is all set to bring some of the finest cinema from all the South Asian Countries. Beginning on October 25, 2012, the four day long festival is one of rare festival where all the South Asian Countries film-makers join in celebrating the spirit of South Asian Cinema to promote and propagate peace and harmony in the South Asian Region with a spirit of oneness. saff is also an initiative of the Foundation to bring people to people contact through the medium of cinema where it tries to reach it to the grass-roots level also. It is also one of the most popular non-governmental initiative, where people to people vibrant contacts are effectively made through the medium of cinema.

South Asia Foundation has received support from the ICCR and Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, to make this event a grand success.

At the inaugural ceremony, Kathak recital by noted Kathak Danseuse Ms. Sharmistha Mukherjee and group and an ensemble on Bhutanese Culture being presented by Karma Deki, Actor-Director from Bhutan and to add the local flavour to the festive season, Goa's very own Sigmund De Souza would also present a cultural programme at the Kala Academy Goa's Open air Amphitheater at 6.00 pm on October 25, 2012.

Indian Film Industry's stalwarts like Randhir Kapoor, Prakash Jha, Sanjay Chauhan, Rahul Mittra and others will join in this initiative of the South Asia Foundation.

Different categories of films will be screened at the festival that includes Classic Films, Short Films, Documentary Films and Mainstream Films. New films will also be premiered at the Festival. The Festival will feature films from all era's, including Classic films of South Asian Cinema's Golden Era to young upcoming directors and established award winning directors. saff-2012 with its selection of films, will showcase the changing phases of Indian Cinema. saff-2012 will screen more than 40 films from all the South Asian countries, with a blend of different genres like Classic Films, Short Films, Documentary Films, Mainstream Popular Films and premiere of a Marathi film. The South Asian Film Festival will showcase some of the finest classics like Raja Harishchandra, Jamai Babu, Aag, Kalia Mardan and popular new era films like Singham, Rajneeti, Ye saali Zindagi, Udaan, and many more. At the regional level, films from South Asian countries include Hot days of Torkham from Afghnaistan, Amar Bondhu Rashed from Bangladesh, Seday from Bhutan, Insaaf from Maldives, Diyalee from Nepal, A garden in Shigar, All that Jazz from Pakistan, Nildiya Yahana from Sri Lanka,, Indian Regional films like 1:30 am, Ekaa Ekaa, and others.

The Foundation considers it not only an honour but also reflection of the strength and the objective of the Festival. This is one of the very few Festivals that have been designed for a larger socio-cultural and political objective, and this is what sets it apart from other film Festivals.

Invitation is open to all... Free Entry passes can be collected from ESG office, Panaji from 10 am to 6 pm.