States » NorthPosted at: Sep 19 2026 9:38PM


Kashmir World Film Festival founder questions government festival, seeks greater space for local filmmakers

Srinagar, Sep 19 (UNI) Founder-director of the Kashmir World Film Festival (KWFF), Mushtaaque Ali Ahmad Khan, has questioned the level of participation and recognition accorded to Kashmiri filmmakers and artists at a recently held government-backed film festival in Kashmir, saying local talent deserved a more meaningful platform.
Addressing reporters, Khan said taxpayers’ money had been spent on the festival but Kashmiris were not given the level of involvement and respect they deserved.
“When a festival is being held in Kashmir, Kashmiris need a platform—a good platform. It is not enough to come and sit in the crowd and clap,” he said, stressing that Kashmiri artists, filmmakers and festival organisers with years of experience should have been given greater space.
Khan also disputed the description of the government event as the “first international film festival of Jammu and Kashmir”.
He said the KWFF was started in 2017 and its fifth edition was held in 2025, with preparations now underway for its sixth edition.
“If they say it was the first government festival in Kashmir, that is fine. But overall, it was not the first,” he said.
He highlighted the international and regional reach of the KWFF, saying films had been received from countries including the United States, Italy, Spain, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan, Poland, Turkey, South Korea, Nepal, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Bangladesh.
He said Indian films screened at the festival represented languages including Bengali, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Assamese, Hindi, Urdu, Dogri, Ladakhi, Kashmiri and English.
Khan also listed several prominent personalities who had attended the festival, including Tabu, Raza Murad, Rajat Kapoor, Madhur Bhandarkar, Rahul Mitra, Anjum Rajabali, Jayati Bhatia, Rahul Bhatt, Shishir Sharma, Lalit Parmoo, Satish Kaul and Komal Nahata.
He said several other personalities, including Hema Malini, Aamir Khan, Subhash Ghai, Bhagyashree, Manoj Bajpayee, Raj Babbar, Saurabh Shukla, Saiyaji Shinde, Sanjay Suri, Mukesh Rishi, Rahul Rawail and Deepti Naval, had expressed willingness to attend a future edition.
Recalling the period when the KWFF was launched, Khan said there was no dedicated film policy or adequate institutional understanding of international film festivals in Jammu and Kashmir.
He appealed to the elected government to place greater trust in professionals from the film sector.
“We are professionals. We can do better work than bureaucrats and give you more output with half of your budget,” he said.
UNI MJR BM
Tags: #Kashmir World Film Festival founder questions government festival# seeks greater space for local filmmakers
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