International Film Festival on Gandhiji and his principles from September 20 to October 2, in six cities of Orissa

A free international film festival of films made in different countries on Gandhiji’s ideals, principles, his life and work is going to be held in Orissa from September 20 to October 2. Which is being organized by Indian Infotainment Media Corporation in collaboration with the Government of Orissa. This is not the first international film festival of its kind. Indian Infotainment Media Corporation under the leadership of Devendra Khandelwal has so far organized this film festival in Sevagram (Maharashtra), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bettiah, Gaya, Hajipur and Motihari in Bihar and Guwahati, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat and Bongaigaon in Assam etc.

The nineteenth to twenty-fifth edition of the festival is being organized from September 20 to October 2 in Rourkela, Sambalpur, Behrampur, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar in the state of Orissa. Every person can benefit by watching films made on Gandhiji in this film festival. For this he does not need to pay any kind of fee. The festival will begin from Rourkela on 20th September and conclude in Bhubaneswar on 2nd October.

The success of the eighteen editions of this film festival held so far can be gauged from the fact that when it was organized in Patna (Bihar), the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was so impressed by watching the films of the festival that he got the shows of some of the films rescheduled and at that time he watched the films not alone but with Tejashwi Yadav, his cabinet colleagues and many officers. At the same function organized in Bhopal, the Governor of Madhya Pradesh took out time from his busy schedule and came for just half an hour, but he was so impressed by the first film itself that he kept watching the films back to back.

In this film festival, some selected films from more than 40 films from all over the world are shown under “Gandhi Panorama”. Many memories related to the life of Mahatma Gandhi have been included in these films. Gandhiji’s belief in honesty, non-violence, simplicity, seriousness and life values will also be reflected in these films. These films will also make the audience aware of Gandhiji’s principles, his achievements, his followers, his dreams and his inspirational teachings.

‘Gandhi Panorama’ will be a completely innovative and memorable journey into the life and work of the great man of his times and every viewer will feel that the entire world has never seen such an inspiring person. People will also be able to understand Mahatma Gandhi i.e. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi through moving pictures on the film screen. These films, despite being of different length, language and format, will be understandable to every person because the film will have English or Hindi subtitles as per requirement.

Purpose of this film festival

Mahatma Gandhi always followed the principle of ‘non-violence’. Today the whole world is so caught in the clutches of modernity and materialism that it is becoming distant from the ideals and values of life and is moving far away from honesty, simplicity, truth and humanity. People are considering money, power and religion as supreme. Man has become hypocritical by nature. Violence is becoming dominant in people’s minds instead of non-violence. Today the situation has become such that violence is celebrated everywhere.

The whole world is going blind. All over the world, the rural young generation is getting so influenced by the external glitz and fake life that they too are turning away from real life values and ideals. They are inclined to follow only hypocrisy. Due to these reasons, man’s dreams are being shattered and every section of the society is not able to keep pace with each other. The Industrial Revolution has become ineffective. We are also not able to utilize natural resources properly. With the destruction of religious harmony everywhere, many types of differences are being created including rich and poor, common and special, urban and rural.

Every person is so trapped in the clutches of the Internet that he has considered the Internet as the guru of his life, which is completely wrong. It is true that a person gets every information on the internet. But the relationship that exists between humans and humans, due to which humans move forward on the path of duty with life values and family values and feel happy while fulfilling their dreams. He finds that he has become aloof from all of them. Every person is seen running in dark streets towards a dark well while living a fake and pretentious life. As a result, the need of the hour is that we all should be aware of Mahatma Gandhi’s life, work, his beliefs and his principles and start living our lives accordingly. It is important to meet Gandhi to bring you on the right path and move towards continuous progress while fulfilling your dreams. This is possible in ‘Gandhi Panorama’.

IIMC leader Devendra Khandelwal himself says, “Mahatma Gandhi is still alive in the entire world but unfortunately, in our own country, Mahatma Gandhi has not reached the young generation the way he should have. It is a bitter truth that films have the greatest attraction among the young generation. For this reason, we have chosen films to convey Gandhiji’s life, work and his message to the young generation. It is also true that films have a huge impact on today’s young generation. We want to reach the young generation through this film festival with the person who, with his understanding, has changed the meaning of freedom and has given a new dimension to success. Through this effort that we are making, if even ten children can take some inspiration from Gandhiji, then there will be a lot of change in the society and the country”.

Some selected thoughts of Gandhiji

By watching the films of this film festival, the audience will also be able to come face to face with some of the following thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, who believed in ‘simple life and high thinking’:

* Honest differences are generally healthy signs of progress.

* Man should not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean. Even if a few drops of the ocean dry up, the ocean does not become dirty.

* Freedom means nothing if there is no freedom to make mistakes.

* Non-violence is the greatest duty. Every person should understand its sentiments and stay away from violence.

‘Gandhi Panorama’ is a depiction of the life of Gandhiji, the kind of life that Mahatma Gandhi alias Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi lived and the kind of life he advocated. Gandhiji also had to face many challenges in his life. In the films of this film festival, the audience will be able to enjoy the challenges and difficulties faced by Gandhiji and the amazing wisdom he displayed during every crisis. Not only this, the films of ‘Gandhi Panorama’ will also draw people’s attention towards the strength and power of compassion to solve the most difficult problems of life. Mahatma Gandhi talks about honesty, kindness, being right, being fair, being free from pseudo-intellectualism and living life with one’s country, culture and tradition.

The reality is that a stubborn Gandhi is still present in the heart of every person, who does not die even after being shot. This is the Gandhi who still believes in simplicity. Even today, among the young generation of our country, the number of people who like to follow the path of non-violence, honesty and truth is visible. This film festival will increase the number of such youth.

Shows of Gandhi Panorama already held at Civic Centre Auditorium, Rourkela and Tapasvini Auditorium at Sambalpur. Now, it is being held at Biju Patnaik Sanskruti Bhavan, Brahmapur (Berhampur) on 25 Sept, 23; at Sanskruti Bhavan, Puri on 27 Sept, 23; at Kala Vikash Kendra, Cuttack on 30 Sept, 23 and Utkal Rangamanch, Bhubaneswar on 2 Oct, 23.

Since the entry is free, It is requested that the children, youth, Gandhians, general public witness this unique festival of Gandhian films.