Sikkim is gearing up to host the Global Cinema Festival 2020 from 28 February through 1 March 2020. This edition of the Global Cinema Festival will be held in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, in collaboration with the Sikkim Film Cooperative Society and supported by the government of the Himalayan state.
The announcement was made at a press conference in Mumbai attended by Sakshi Mehra (exhibitor), Kiran Shantaram (filmmaker), Ravi Kottarakara (general secretary of the Film Federation of India or FFI), Firdausul Hasan (president of the FFI), Namrata Thapa (secretary for information and public relations, government of Sikkim) and Rahul Banerjee (from the Sikkim Film Cooperative Society).
The festival will open with the Adil Hussain-starrer Every 68 Minutes directed by Anindita Sarbadhikari. Over three days, 20 feature films (national and international) will be screened along with documentaries, shorts, animation films and experimental videos.
Talking about the festival, FFI president Hasan said, “The Film Federation of India decided last year that we would organize film festivals in tier 2 and tier 3 cities to promote films in smaller towns. Last year we did the festival in Siliguri [in West Bengal] and this year we are organizing it in Sikkim.”
Secretary Thapa said, “Sikkim has given many talents to the industry like Danny Denzongpa and Geetanjali Thapa. Sikkim is a state where nature smiles. Films are a very strong medium and through this platform and through films shot in Sikkim, we can make our presence felt in the rest of the country and globally.”