The finale week of the 7th Jagran Film Festival commenced with an electrifying opening ceremony on September 26 at Cinepolis theatre, Andheri (Mumbai). The coveted film festival got off to a rousing start with the ceremonial tradition of lighting the lamp by Chief Guest Arjun Kapoor.

Arjun Kapoor - Pandolin.com

Arjun Kapoor lighting the lamp at the opening ceremony of the 7th Jagran Film Festival

The festival began with the screening of the French film, Road To Istanbul, a 92-minute feature film that talks about the issue of young Europeans converting to Islam and taking up the Jihadi cause.

Produced by John Brehat in association with 3B Productions, Tassili Films, Arte France and Scope Pictures and directed by Rachid Bouchareb, the film stars Astrid Whettnall, Pauline Burlet, Patricia Ide and Abel Jafri. The film, a unique piece of art, has been screened at various international film festivals this year including Berlin International Film Festival and Eurasia International Film Festival among others.

Other films screened on the opening day of the festival include the Spanish film, In The Name Of Girl, written and directed by Tania Hermida and featuring Eva Mayu Mecham Benavides, Markus Mecham Benavides and Martin Leon.

Arjun Kapoor - Pandolin.com

Arjun Kapoor at the opening ceremony of the 7th Jagran Film Festival

While interacting with the media, Arjun Kapoor said, “Our budding filmmakers want to understand cinema, learn from cinema. Hindi or English films are not enough, films across the world can influence us, especially actors, filmmakers and technicians. This is the purest form of education our budding filmmakers can get. It is not corrupted by commercialisation in anyway.”

Manoj Srivastava, Strategic Consultant of Jagran Film Festival said at the event, “The first day of the finale week of the Jagran Film Festival has set the pace for the week-long cinematic extravaganza.”