The second annual Tasvir Film Festival opened Wednesday night with a more ambitious and diverse lineup of films than last year's debut, according to fourth-year College student Bilal Qureshi.
Qureshi, along with third-year College student Shambhavi Singh, organized the festival, sponsored by the Center for South Asian Studies and Cinematheque.
"This year we have films from Bangladesh and Pakistan, which is new," Qureshi said.
The four-day festival will showcase seven films from across the South Asian region, ranging from the international hit "Bend it Like Beckham" to the Indian documentary screened Wednesday night.
More than 50 people turned out to watch "Delhi Diary," a 2001 documentary on two critical events in the history of the Indian capital.
Saturday's screening of "The Clay Bird" will be the Bengali film's East Coast premier. It was originally banned in Bangladesh because it deals with the closing of Muslim schools, thought to be recruiting grounds for the Taliban.
"It's an important film because there are very few films that were made in Bangladesh, and there are very few people that have seen what the country looks like," Qureshi said.
Media Studies Prof. Nitin Govil said the festival covers a variety of material.
"You have only a number of scheduled slots available, and they've done a very nice job of putting together a diverse array of films," Govil said. "It's to Bilal's credit that he's put such a diverse array together."
Govil introduced filmmaker Mazumdar at Wednesday's opening event and will introduce "Lagaan," an Oscar-nominated Indian epic, Saturday evening.
"'Lagaan' is an exemplary model of a film that is trying to bridge Bollywood with Hollywood ways of making film," Govil said.
The globalization of Indian film has become a hot topic, Govil added.
"In the last 10 to 15 years, there's been a real explosion and acceleration of interest in Hindi cinema around the world," he said.
The festival is a student-led effort, said Cynthia Benton-Groner, outreach director at the Center for South Asian Studies.
"We helped with the publicity, but it's really student-driven, reaching out to the University community as well as Charlottesville."
Qureshi said he was very pleased with the turnout so far and anticipates numbers equivalent to last year's 3,000 people over the course of the weekend.
"It's great just to see so many people come out and support the event," Qureshi said. "To see that we've coordinated and enjoyed something that people can share is great."
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