NFDC to organise virtual patriotic film festival from August 7

If you love visiting the

Siri Fort

every year for the week-long film festival during the August 15 week, here's some good news for you. This year, while you will have to stay put at home due COVID-19, you will get to enjoy an online patriotic film festival, which is being organised by the National Film Development Corporation Of India (NFDC) in a first-of-its-kind of attempt. The festival, a part of the Independence Day Celebrations 2020 by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, will be held from August 7- August 21.

The festival has a line-up of 43 films - 20

Hindi

films, including 'Pehla Aadmi' (1950), 'Life of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose' (2004), which will have live footage from NFAI, 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh' (2002); eight English films including 'The Making of the Mahatma' (1996), 'A Song Eternal' (1976); three

Tamil

, Bengali, Malayalam films; one Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi film; two musicals and one multi-lingual film, 'Chota Sipahi' (2004).

The selection showcases a consolidated collection of films from the NFDC,

National Film Archive of India

(NFAI), Children's Film Society India (CFSI) and Films Division.

The film festival has three films on

Gandhi

- 'Gandhi' (1982), 'Gandhi Se Mahatma Tak' (1996) and 'The Making of the Mahatma' (1996). Besides, for the first time, the film 'Gandhi' (1982) by Sir Richard Attenborough will be made accessible and can be enjoyed by people with vision and hearing impairment.

A note issued by the I&B Ministry states, "The festival will showcase Indian history that marks the bravery of our freedom fighters and aims to create a festive and patriotic mood among Indians across the globe. The festival will showcase high-quality Independence Day themed patriotic films daily at the website www.cinemasofindia.com free of cost."