The third edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival opened with Rajat Kapoor’s Aankhon Dekhi today. The film was met with a highly engaged and warm reception at the two primary venues of the festival: Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) and the Club House. The director’s fifth film, that has evoked a wide variety of responses due to its mysterious spirituality, was followed by elaborate post-film Q/As with the director himself. The ending, widely polarizing and provocative, featured predictably as the main subject of these discussions.
The screening was followed by a get together of industry professionals, independent filmmakers, producers, local officials, curators and delegates. Included in the list of attendees were Lobsang Samten, the Artistic Director of TIPA, Lobsang Sangay, PM of Tibetan Government-in-Exile, Dicki Chhoyang, Information & International Relations, Tibet Government, Kelsang Yeshi, Kim Yeshi and Sonam Yeshi from Norbulingka Institute, Olli Moilanen from the Finnish Foreign Ministry alongwith filmmakers like Anupama Srinivasan and Pushpa Rawat (Nirnay), Hansal Mehta (CityLights), Samina Mishra (Soundphiles) and Byamba Sakhya (Remote Control).
The dinner at the gathering was followed by performances by students of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and folk groups from the region.