Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) begins for its second edition celebration for the film enthusiasts all over the world at the Sindhu Sanskriti Auditorium Leh on 13th September. 

 

Rigzin Jora, Rigzin Spalbar and Gulzar light the lamp and marked the opening of the three day Festival where around 120 short films, feature films and documentaries will be screened across the globe. Gulzar’s debut film ‘Mere Apnay’, Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’ and  international documentary filmmaker Teri McLuhan`s ‘Frontier Gandhi’ were shown as the Green Carpet Premier and were also the highlights of the Fest. There was also a special Ladakh section under which few local films and documentaries like ’20 Years’, ‘Wake Up’ etc. were screened.
 
Nawang Rigzin Jora addressing the guests expressed pleasure and joy over organizing such an important and successful event for second year in succession, and he felt that Ladakh being chosen as the venue for such international film festival is a matter of great pride for Ladakh as well as J&K. He said, cinema has played a great role in improving Ladakh’s economy in terms of attracting tourists in large number particularly after the film ‘3 Idiots’ which was shot in Ladakh.
Jora and Rigzin Spalbar both expressed their gratitude and appreciation for having organized such an important event in Ladakh by the team led by Melvyn, the festival director and Meghna.

Gulzar said that he was happy to be in such a beautiful place and among beautiful people and also the fact that he was participating in an event being held at highest altitude in the world. He said that it was a beginning of a new era of opportunities wherein the young filmmakers particularly from Ladakh could explore new ideas. He was also happy for his debut film “Mere Apnay” being screened as the premiere show of the festival and said that he was as nervous about its screening as he was on its first release.

Other celebs guests, filmmakers Arpana Sen, Vishal Bardwaj, Rakesh Omprakash also spoke on the occasion about the unique experience they have had on a location at such a height.
 
Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India H.E. Shaida Mohammad Abdali and many celebrities from the film fraternity like Bollywood lyricist and filmmaker Gulzar, LIFF jury Aparna Sen, patrons Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj, filmmaker Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, and National Award winning Marathi actress Usha Jadhav were present on the opening ceremony.