Aparna Sen heads jury of the 2nd Ladakh International Film Festival

Actress- director Aparna Sen will head the jury of the second Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) that is to be held from 5 to 7 July (2013). "LIFF is definitely a film festival with a difference. Some of the most exciting recently made films will be viewed, discussed and awarded by some of the best filmmakers of the world at an incomparable venue high up amidst snowy mountain ranges," said Sen in a statement. While the festival will be inaugurated by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the minister of Information and Broadcasting Manish Tiwari will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony. This year, the focus of LIFF is 'women in cinema' with the tagline celebrating womanhood. The Green Carpet premiere this year will be of American documentary filmmaker Teri McLuhan’s The Frontier Gandhi, a film based on the life of great freedom fighter Abdul Ghaffar Khan. "The LIFF which will be two years old when it takes place this year, has already found place among the recognised film festivals of the world," averred LIFF chairman Shyam Benegal. Incidentally, the first edition of the Ladakh International Film Festival, 2012 was inaugurated by Benegal in the presence of the J& K Chief minister. Over 1.6 lakh footfalls, 150 plus filmmakers and film dignitaries from around the world attended the first ever international event held in Leh, Ladakh last year.