[Reader-list] Announcement of Awards:We Care Film Festival

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

SHORT FILMS AND DOCUMENTARIES HIGHLIGHTING 
MARRIAGE ANDSEXUALITY IN THE LIVES OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITY
 
New Delhi: June 23. Marriage can be a wonderful lifelong commitment between twopeople who resolve to love and support each other. For people with disability,however, marriage asks more of both partners. How do two people navigate thephysical, emotional, logistical, and social issues involved in theserelationships? How do they create the delicate balance between independence andintimacy which is so important for a healthy marriage? 
 
For the first time ever, short films and documentaries highlightingmarriage and sexuality in the lives of persons with disability are part of the 9th edition ofWe Care Filmfest. Some of the short films and documentaries on this issuesare:-
 
Dove’sTale by Ambuja Kumar Satapathy of Bhuvneshwar won the first prize under fiveminutes category.  
 
Shortfilm “I Can Love, Too” by  MrinmonyBhowmick of Kolkatta won first prise under 30 minues category  
 
Mindscapes.... of Love & Longing/Sexuality & Disability by Arun Chadha of Delhi wonthird prize under sixty minutes category  
 
AWARDCEREMONY WILL BE HELD ON 31 JULY 2012 AT THE AUDITORIUM OF INDIA INTERNATIONALCENTRE, NEW DELHI AT 10 AM.  16 filmmakers are coming to Delhi to receive the award on July 31.
 
The We Care Filmfest is a travelling festival of short films anddocumentaries on disability issues. It is organized by Brotherhood inassociation with its founder partners – the United Nations Information Centrefor India and Bhutan (UNIC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO), the National Trust, the Global RainbowFoundation, and the Mauritius and the Asian Academy of Film and Television(AAFT). This unique festival began in 2003 and is now in its ninth year.
 
Accordingto Mr. Govind Nihalani, Chief Patron
 
We Care Filmfest has become a brand across the globe when it comes tofilm festival on disability issues.  WeCare Film Fest on disability issues is the only festival in the worldwhich  travels to educationalinstitutions including mass communication institutes and disabilityinstitutions in India and abroad.
 
This is nota festival, but a mission … a movement ... to create greater awareness aboutdisability issues through the medium of cinema. An impaired person may bedisabled, but society as a whole is often handicapped because it failed tounderstand that the disabled do not seek pity but compassion, understanding anddignity.
 
Accordingto Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, Director,UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan
 
The We Care Film Festival effort underlines the UN’s commitmentto inclusion – in both development and human rights perspectives. This filmfestival has become a powerful advocacy tool that demands that our attitudesand biases towards persons with disabilities is altered, and that we see themthrough new eyes of equality, equity and full and unimpeded access andparticipation.
 
The We Care Film Festival will also be an importantadvocacy tool for the UN Information Centre as we embrace the nextInternational Decade for Persons with Disabilities proposed by the UN for theperiod 2013-2022.
 
Throughthe We Care Film Fest we will continue to demonstrate thatwe really do care!
 
Satish Kapoor, founder and Director
 
“Over the years, more than 450 short films anddocumentary ranging from one-minute documentaries to 60-minute documentaryfilms from India and abroad have been shown over the past nine years at 86venues, including schools and universities across the country. 
 
The WeCare Filmfest is an advocacy tool that seeks to bring about attitudinal andbehavioural changes on approaches to disability, promote the inclusion ofpeople with disabilities, and rid people of misconceptions, myths andprejudices surrounding disability issues. The festival seeks to promote therights of persons with disabilities as set out in the UN Convention on theRights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which came into force on 3 May2008, as also the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection ofRights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 and the National Trust Act, 1999.”
 
 
SATISH KAPOOR                                                    ROHITRELLAN                    
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR,                                 HON. VICE PRESIDENT
WE CARE FILMFEST                                               WE CARE FILMFEST