The New Nation - Internet Edition

Entertainment Desk

Eight diverse countries with differing historical and political traditions, unmatched cinematographic backgrounds have come together at the on-going South Asian Film Festival.

This four-day festival, which ends on Monday, is screening films from eight South Asian Countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The films are being shown in five different categories: classic, short, documentary, mainstream and new films.

For a region that has been at the flash-point of some bitter rivalries and even nuclear misunderstandings, the screenings remind viewers of the needs for "dissolving boundaries" and "promoting peace and harmony". Likewise, in a region where ignorance about neighbours is rife, it's surprising to see how much misunderstanding exists about each other.

Journalists covering the festival have also found it tough to locate early information about films being screened, especially from smaller countries. What is interesting is the diverse film backgrounds of participating nations. Regional and global cinema giant India claims to be home to the largest film industry in the world. Its official claim is for having produced over a thousand films each year. "Every three months, an audience as large as India's entire population visits these halls.

Indian films are popular in various parts of the world, especially in countries with significant Indian communities," says a source. Cinema was introduced to India in July 1896, and a documentary on a wrestling match in Hanging Gardens, Bombay, was made in 1897. Apart from Hindi films, India makes films in 30 other languages.

Some prominent regional film industries include Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. In contrast, Afghanistan has faced a slowed cinema growth due to political changes.