NEW DELHI: The tenth edition of prestigious science film festival got off in a virtual mode. Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous agency under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, has been organizing this festival as a part of its science popularization endeavour. The festival offers a unique platform to showcase the science films made by professionals, amateur and student filmmakers under various themes.
The four-day long film festival was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura Jishnu Dev Verma on Tuesday. In, his inaugural address Jishnu Dev Varma, said “Films being the most popular medium of communication, can help popularize science effectively, as people directly connect with them. Science is wedded to art; film is a complete medium. It has science, art and culture and thus offers a complete package.
In India we cannot separate science from art as the art-forms are based on science.” He further said that Northeast India in general and Tripura in particular, is known for its indigenous culture and rich biodiversity. “The initiative to take science to the common people through films in the region is commendable. It will help in the development of scientific temper among the people of this region”, the deputy chief minister observed.
A total of 115 shortlisted films selected by the ten-member jury will be screened during the festival. These include films in Hindi, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Kashmiri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and Tamil languages. Science and technology, environment, agriculture, renewable energy, water management, health and drugs and technological innovations are some of the most explored themes in the submitted films.
The entries include documentaries, biography, short films, docu-dramas, science fiction and animation films. These films have been made by different institutions, professional, amateur and student filmmakers to compete under specific categories. The festival was earlier scheduled to take place between 18-22 March’20 in Agartala. The event had to be postponed due to the unfolding pandemic situation.