Gurugram treats cinephiles, hosts film festival amid pandemic

The recent I-View World Human Rights Film Festival had panel discussions, film screenings and a coveted guest list from India and abroad.

Heartwarming films, discussions on human rights, a glamorous red carpet and awards to laud independent cinema - all this and more comprised the recent I-View World Human Rights Film Festival 2020. It is to initiate a dialogue on gender equality that the festival was held in physical format, albeit following all Covid-19 protocols. The opening ceremony marked the Human Rights Day, and opened with a screening of filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s Funny Boy, and the closing night feature was director Nathan Grossman’s documentary, I Am Greta.

The I-View World Film Festival had presence of popular personalities such as actors Swara Bhasker, Sayani Gupta, Vivek Gomber, Rajesh Tailang, Bani J, directors Onir, and Faraz Ansari.(PHOTOS: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

Actor Vivek Vaswani, Myna Mukherjee (festival curator), and filmmaker Deepa Mehta at the screening of Funny Boy.

The oh-so-glam red carpet opening of the star-studded 10-day film festival had presence of actors Swara Bhasker, Sayani Gupta, Vivek Gomber, Rajesh Tailang, Bani J, and directors Onir, and Faraz Ansari, to name a few. Equipped with masks, sanitisers, and following social-distancing norms amid Covid-19 pandemic, at Gurugram’s CyberHub, the celebrities also received awards for their work this year.

Actor Bani J was awarded the Engendered Agent of Change Award.

The global programming schedule included virtual screenings of critically-acclaimed films such as Sweden’s And Then We Danced, Brief Story From The Green Planet, and Nasir, to name a few. There were also in-depth panel discussions, including a conversation on ’Archetypes of Justice’ with Richie Mehta (director) and Shefali Shah (lead actor of Delhi Crime, the International Emmy Award Winner for Best Dramatic Series. These discussions will be available on www.plexigo.com/IViewWorld2020/, till January 24, 2021.

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