Dubai: The 1st ever film festival of Odia cinema outside India has started today at the
ongoing EXPO 2020 Dubai in the Multipurpose hall of India Pavilion. The one-of-a-kind film festival and forum is hosted by Odisha Samaj UAE (OSUAE) – the largest association of Non-Resident Odias across the Middle East and North Africa region in collaboration with Internationally acclaimed film producer, promoter and curator from Odisha Jitendra Mishra and his organization CINEMA4GOOD.
Several dignitaries and filmmakers from Odisha and UAE were present during the opening ceremony today. The event was flagged off by Dr. Aman Puri, Consul general of India to Dubai , Mr. Uttam Chand (Consul – Visa and Community affairs) and his excellency Tomas Zaleski in the presence of National Award Winning filmmakers Sabyasachi Mahapatra and Susant Mishra.
During the opening ceremony the organisers paid tribute to 21 different film personalities from Odisha film industry whom the state has lost during last two years of Covid-19, the name includes legendary filmmakers Manmohan Mahapatra, Sarada Prasanna Naik, Raju Mishra, and actors Bijay Mohanty, Ajit Das, Rabi Mishra, Atal Bihari Panda among others. A panel discussion “Odisha-The storied land of opportunities” was also organized after the opening ceremony.
“ We are proud to be hosting this momentous event in the Prestigious India Pavillion of Expo 2020. This is a very proud moment for the Odia community of the UAE and the people of Odisha. We are thankful to CINEMA4GOOD for collaborating with us to organize this historic event. ” Said Mr Amiya Kumar Mishra, President of the Odisha Samaj UAE, on this occasion.
Appreciating the stronger-together approach of Odisha Samaj UAE, Jitendra Mishra, curator of Cine-Odisha fest said “ I am thankful to the entire Odia community for bringing positivity during this difficult time, I am privileged to be a part of this pathbreaking initiative together with a larger Odia family staying in UAE. I am also thankful to all the filmmakers, the Odisha film fraternity, Govt. of India, Govt. of Odisha, FICCI for their support and cooperation. “
The objective of the festival is to promote Odisha’s rich art, culture, language and heritage values through handpicked films from the state. National and international award winning several feature and non-feature films will be showcased during the two day festival, film program includes ‘Maya Miriga’ ,’Neeraba Jhada’, ‘Labanya Preeti’ , ‘Indradhanura Chhai’ , ‘Tara’, ‘Jatra Jeevan Jeevan Yatra’ , ‘Kathantara’, ‘The Lord Of The Universe’, ‘Kalira Atita’, ‘Sala Budhar Badla’ and ‘Seba Bou’ among others.
Expo 2020 Dubai, The 35th World Expo was inaugurated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on the 30th of September 2021 and will be open to the world from 1st of October 2021 till 31st March 2022. With192 participating nations, Expo2020 Dubai is a mega international event in terms of scale, duration, and visitor count, with a projected 25 million tourists from all over the world in the 6 month period.
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