Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
ACT Minister of Multicultural Affairs Hon. Joy Burch Inaugurated the South Asian Film Festival
The South Asian Film Festival (SAFF)
was inaugurated by ACT Minister of Multicultural Affairs Hon.Ms. Joy Burch at
the Tuggeranong Arts Centre(TAC), Canberra on 22 February 2011. A number of
Ambassadors/High Commissioners, Australian dignitaries and South Asian Community
members attended the opening ceremony. Prominent amongst the guests were Mr.
Brenda Smyth, MLA, H.E. Mr. Pedro Raul Villagra Delgado, Dean of Diplomatic
Corps & Ambassador of Argentina, H.E. Mr. Amanullah Jayhoon, Ambassador of
Afghanistan, H.E. Mr. Masud Uddin Chowdhury, High Commissioner of Bangladesh,
H.E. Mrs. Sujatha Singh, High Commissioner of India, Mr. Tasawar Khan, Acting
High Commissioner of Pakistan, Ms. Sashikala Premawardhane, Deputy High
Commissioner of Sri Lanka, Mr Lok Bahadur Thapa, Deputy Head of Mission of
Nepal, Mr. Nic Manikis, Director, ACT Multicultural Affaris, Mr. Dominic Mico,
Director TAC and members of the Board of Directors of TAC.
Ms. Joy Burch Commended the TAC management and South Asian diplomatic missions
for organizing the festival and sharing their culture and films with the people
of Australia. She said that Australia was proud of its multicultural society and
believes in strength of its diversity. She said that film is a powerful medium
to promote understanding and social harmony and, cognizant of its effectiveness,
the ACT Government has recently allocated funds to promote movie production in
the territory.
Representing all the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Heads of Mission in Canberra, the Ambassador of Afghanistan spoke about the
origin of SAARC and its role in promoting regional cooperation amongst its
members. The Association has a come a long way in promoting cultural harmony
economic integration in South Asia. He welcomed the inclusion of Australia as an
Observer in the SAARC. He spoke about the popularity and strong film making
tradition in the South Asian countries and their desire to share their culture
with their Australian friends.
Mr. Dominic Mico, Director of Tuggeranong Arts Centre thanked the SAARC Missions
for the excellent selection of films and cooperation in realizing the Festival,
which had become a regular annual feature of TAC.
The opening ceremony was followed by a reception, where all the SAARC Missions
presented some special delicious finger foods for the delight of gastronomic
tastes of all the participants.
Pakistan presented Director Mahreen Jabbar’s famous movie “Ramchand Pakistani”
at the Festival, which was shown on 24th February 2011.
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