Everest International Film Festival to open its doors on 31st January

Come January 31st and all roads will lead to the gateway of North-Eastern India, where the 2nd Everest International Film Festival (EIFF) is being held. Conducted by Filmy Sansaar & Eon Films and powered by Hotel Royal Sarovar Portico, the 2nd Everest International Film Festival will take place at the sprawling Royal Sarovar Portico Hotel in Siliguri on 31st January 2021.

Serving as West Bengal’s upcoming premier film festival, EIFF 2021 will be bringing in quality films from across the globe and aims to exhibit the most captivating and innovative content. Though film festivals have become a regular affair, EIFF aims to connect the film fans and movies goers with the world, so as to bring about greater understanding of the art of film making. However, with the Covid restrictions in place, the EIFF Committee have decided to go online with only a day’s celebration showcasing only the best of the films submitted to the festival. The rest of the films can be seen online on our festival channel from today till 31st January. Breaking all stereotypes, LCIFF's mission is to present quality films from around the world as well as support, recognize and honor indie film makers.

Despite its limitation, the Everest International Film Festival will surely be looked forward to from the viewpoint of an indie film maker and a movie enthusiast as well, who wants to see some of the best cinema at a festival. And EIFF is all set to provide them an array of wonderful films. Some of the notable films selected by the selection committee for screening include Indo Australian Sudama The Half Man by Rajib Ball, Seal by Valmir Tertini (Albania), The Eve by Luca Machnich (USA), Animation film The Boy and The Mountain by Santiago Aguilera & Gabriel Monreal (Chile), Welcome On Board by Mohsin Abrar (Singapore), Once upon a Judgement Day and Strings of Sorrow by Mehmete Tanrisever (Turkey), Wandering...But Not Lost by Paul MacGowan (USA), Sycamore by Mehmet Tigli (Turkey), The Letter by Jiyoung Jung (Korea), Pulanaivu by Shalini Balasundaram and Sathish Natarajan (Malaysia) and The Forgotten War by Junichi Kajioka (UK/Japan) among others. From India, some of the films that has made its way to the festival include Main Mulayam by Suvendu Ghosh, Kukli by Shyama Sundar Majhi, Come Come Rain by Shafaq Khan, Insha Allah by SP Pandian Bhaskaran, Kaali Maati by Hemant Mahale and A Tale of Rising Rani by Prakash Saini. While not all will be screened at the venue, you can surely see them online. 

“Given the restrictions around coronavirus, which has had sweeping effects in all sectors including the entertainment industry, many festivals across the globe had chosen to either call off the festival or go online. As festival organizers, even team EIFF had the same two choices – cancellation or to go online. But we decided to downscale the event and making it a one day event instead of cancelling the same,” said Sanjay Verma ‘Saajan’, the Festival Director. “However, there is no substitute for receiving the awards in person with its unique and fantastic audience. Though scaled down, the awards event will see the presence of Bollywood actors Arfi Lamba & Amyth Sethi, Sana Shaikh (Actress), 3 times Guinness Book Records Holder Dr. Ghazal Srinivas and National Award winning Director Kondapalli Dasarath Kumar.”

“Cinema is the most powerful medium and tellin specific stories that connect you with realities you had no idea or connection is a weapon these makers have. Being at a film festival reminds one of these powers. But many a times, such stories don’t see the light of the day. Either the film makers don’t get an opportunity to reach out to studios or don’t get a platform for release. In our effort to help the indie film makers, we have planned to bring in the studios and the OTT on one single platform. Yes, at EIFF, to help indie filmmakers interact with studios for converting their ideas into films, we are also bringing the reputed Mana Studios from Hyderabad to the festival. D Y Chowdary, Producer & Founder of Mana Film Studios along with Atluri Narayana Rao, Film Producer & Financer will be there to grace the occasion. Same time, Mehmood Ali - one of the founders of Don Cinema - an upcoming and leading OTT channel will also be present at the festival. It will indeed be a golden opportunity for Indie film makers to interact with such luminaries,” said Mohan Das, Jury Chairman as well as Chairman of the festival.

In recent years, the beauty of the Himalayan range, encompassed by tea gardens has become a favourable shooting location for some of the big budget Bollywood films. Growing by leaps and bounds and slowly stepping onto the international scene, EIFF was founded not only to showcase the beauty of the Himalayan range, encompassed by tea gardens but also as a favourable shooting destination. It is a platform for showcasing films and networking and also serve as a travel city to the transcending Himalayan scopes of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Gangtok, Mirik and Kalimpong inside India and furthermore to neighboring nations like Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. 

"As EIFF gears up to host yet another successful edition of Everest International Film Festival, we are focused on creating a vibrant ambiance for film makers and audience to further enhance Siliguri’s position as a leading film making and tourism destination that offers unforgettable experiences," concluded Sanjay Verma.