Srinagar, Sept 07 (KNO): Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) Jammu & Kashmir State President Vivek Bali has welcomed the government’s initiative to organise its first International Film Festival in Jammu & Kashmir, describing it as a positive development with significant potential to boost the region’s cultural and economic growth.
Bali said Kashmir has a long and distinguished association with cinema and filmmaking and expressed hope that the festival would help revive the Valley’s historic connection with the film industry.
“It is a positive development. The government is organising its first international film festival. We are also trying to remind the country’s film industry that films used to be made in Kashmir long before places like Paris, London or Switzerland became popular shooting locations. We would like to see that tradition revived,” Bali said.
He appealed to filmmakers, producers, actors and other professionals from across the country and abroad to explore Jammu & Kashmir as a preferred destination for film production.
Bali said greater engagement with the film industry would not only showcase the region’s natural beauty and rich cultural heritage but also create opportunities for local artists, actors, technicians and young creative talent.
“We welcome people from the film industry to come here, shoot their movies, discover local Kashmiri talent and provide them with meaningful opportunities. Jammu & Kashmir has immense potential to become a major destination for cinema and the creative industries,” he added.
Bali said the revival of filmmaking in Kashmir could contribute to employment generation, tourism promotion and the growth of the local creative economy, while providing Kashmiri talent with a platform to reach national and international audiences.
He expressed hope that the International Film Festival would mark the beginning of a renewed and sustained relationship between Jammu & Kashmir and the Indian and global film fraternity—(KNO)