Darjeeling: The Global Cinema Film Festival 2019 was flagged off in Siliguri. Along with providing cine-goers of this region a taste of world cinema, the festival is also aimed at promoting North Bengal as a shooting destination. The Film Federation of India (FFI), in association with the state Tourism department, is organising the festival from August 21 to 25. 36 feature films and 24 short films in more than 22 languages from this region, Bangladesh and Nepal are being showcased in the festival. "We extend our gratitude to the FFI for choosing Siliguri as the venue for this festival. We will be visiting the places in North Bengal which can be promoted as film destinations," stated Tourism minister Goutam Deb at the inauguration function on Wednesday. "With the digital arena, the whole concept of film and film making has changed. It has opened up many new avenues. We have to take full advantage of this," said state minister and noted theatre personality Bratya Basu. Bollywood and Tollywood stars including Randhir Kapoor, Rituparna Sengupta, Mahima Chaudhury, Swastika Mukherjee and Arindam Sil were present at the inauguration ceremony. The films are being screened in Dinabandhu Mancha in Siliguri, Rabindrabhavan in Shaktigarh and in New Cinema. A fashion show was also held on Thursday, featuring top designers from this region and top models from India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

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