Honours at 16th INTACH film festival

“You don't stumble upon your heritage. It's there, just waiting to be explored and shared.”

-Robbie Robertson

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) organises an annual film festival (FILMIT) to promote awareness and appreciation of India's best cultural heritage among people of all ages. The INTACH film festival serves as a platform to showcase films that highlight various aspects of India's cultural heritage through documentaries, short films and animations. The film festival aims to educate, inspire and ignite curiosity among viewers, especially school children about the diverse cultural, historical landmark architectural marvels, and artistic treasures that define India's heritage.

INTACH provides a valuable opportunity for school children to learn, explore and celebrate India's cultural heritage through the powerful medium of cinema. By attending such festivals students develop a sense of deeper appreciation and sense of responsibility towards preserving and promoting India's rich cultural legacy.

On 1st February 2024, INTACH held its 16th film festival. Students from all over Delhi participated and showcased their best film shot in the last few months. Spearheaded by Ms Purnima Datt, principal director of INTACH, the festival also saw some prominent names such as Ms Rinto Thomas whose short film was nominated for the Oscars. Ms Himanshi Saini works at BBC India and Ms Bhadra Sinha is a journalist. The film festival concluded with the distribution of prizes to the students whose films left a huge impact on the audience. Suryanshi of class 6, Sahas and Shubh of class 7, Ali Fateh Siddiqui and Sparsh Chopra of class 8 were awarded ‘Movie with Best Visuals’ for their movie ‘Goddess of the Rain'.

The film festival provided students with the opportunity to harness their creative side. It also emphasised the importance of heritage conservation. Through films that highlight efforts to preserve and protect historical monuments, traditional arts and endangered cultural practices, students are inspired to become stewards of their cultural heritage and contribute to safeguarding it for future generations.