SARGODHA-The University of Sargodha (UoS), in collaboration with the Asia Peace Film Festival (APFF), announced establishing state-of-the-art Campus Cinema at the main campus of the university.
Students and participants greeted Vice Chancellor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad on his landmark declaration which will promote filmmaking and cinema culture in and around Sargodha. Jinnah Hall, in the glorious Jinnah Building, will be refurbished to host the cinema.
The project of Campus Cinema featured at screening of selected works from all across Asia, master classes (A-Z of Filmmaking), mentoring and tutoring session, briefings on inter-university film competition multi-country certification of the course.
The APFF is a travelling festival inspired by the nomadic tradition of art, craft and creativity striving to bring filmmaking and peace building communities together creating an interface for a cultural dialogue.
Launching ceremony of maiden project was jointly organized by the Department of Communication and Media Studies and Institute of Art and Design, the SoU.
On the occasion, awarded short films, documentaries, animations and music videos from across the 70 countries of Asia region were screened.
Dr Wang Shan, international film scholar from China, Masood Baig, Head PTV World, Amjad Bhatti Chairman APFF, Yasir Qureshi Executive Director APFF, Mustafa Sabri producer of awarded short film Malika and a number of eminent producers, directors and filmmakers from across the country, faculty members graced the occasion.
Amir Masoud Soheili, Iranian filmmaker who has bagged more than 100 international awards and associated with the APFF as creative director glorified the event through Skype.
The ceremony followed by a panel discussion on the challenges and prospects of Pakistani alternative cinema with contemporary filmmakers and professionals from the industry.
Addressing the ceremony, Dr Wang Shan expressed his happiness at being in Sargodha University, especially interacting with the zealous audience. She also talked about regional cooperation in Filmmaking and Art Education.
Masood Baig in his Address announced the biggest National Film Festival to be held as part of the Pakistan Day celebrations and asked the students to submit nominees of their filming production to share inspiring stories which are trailblazing across different fields.
Amjad Bhatti briefed about the Campus Cinema Project that it is a flagship initiative of the Asia Peace Film Festival engaging young and emerging filmmakers currently studying in different universities and media colleges in Pakistan.
Core objective of the Campus Cinema is to create a learning opportunity for filmmakers, writers, directors, producers and actors so that they can enrich their skills and content for a competitive production to the media and film industry, he added.
Bhatti further added that Campus Cinema brings international best practices in short film, animation, documentary and music video to the universities with an all-encompassing teaching project comprised.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad, the Vice Chancellor Sargodha University was the chief guest of the launching ceremony of Campus Cinema. He presented souvenirs, shields and gifts among the guests. He said that Sargodha region is rich in many aspects and the students are multi-talented. He encouraged the students to participate in competitions and to showcase their talent by storytelling of daily activities through films.
At the end, students enjoyed the special musical performance by a famous artist Syed Sibt-e-Haider.
