International film festival for 'special people'

In order to bring the physically challenged people in the mainstream of the society and encourage them, a three-day international film festival for special people will be held for the first time here from December 17.

Two Hindi movies -- 'Tare Zameen Par' and 'Dosti' and English movie 'A Beautiful Mind' -- will be screened during the seventh international film festival, jointly organised by Madhya Pradesh government's Social Justice Department and Arushi, a Bhopal-based voluntary organisation working towards the empowerment of people with disabilities, a release said.

Besides the feature films, documentaries based on disabled people would also be screened during the film festival.

''The main objectives behind the event are to increase awareness and to bring attitudinal change in communities about disability issues for creating an enabling environment in the state and to promote a more positive image of disabled people through films,'' Executive Coordinator Spana Gupta said.

This initiative would help in developing a better understanding of the issues related to disability amongst children, youths, teachers, and the larger community. It would also help build a positive image of the disabled in the community and would generate awareness with regard to their abilities and contribution they can make to the society.