Film industry’s revival need of hour: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD, Dec 10 (APP): Minister of State for Information,
Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb Saturday said
revival of the film industry was need of the hour and holding
International Mountain Film Festival was a positive step for the
purpose.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of second Pakistan International
Mountain Film Festival here, she said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz
Sharif was taking keen interest in the revival of film industry and
he would soon announce a special fund for the promotion of culture and film industry.
Pakistani culture, she said, had great diversity and it was amalgamation of various colours, which should be presented before the world not only to project the real positive image of the country but also to apprise national and international tourists of its beauty.
She said the film industry remained ignored due to war on terror and other sensitive issues, but now was time to focus on it for providing healthy entertainment to the people and highlighting the cultural
diversity both at home and abroad.
She said the two day festival, during which 28 films were scheduled
to be screened, should be extended for one more day and students of universities, colleges and government schools should be invited to watch the movies.
The Prime Minster, she said, had asked her to devise a policy to
overcome the challenges being faced by the film industry and announce incentives for producers to restart making films.
The minister announced that a two day national artists convention
would be organized soon to pinpoint hurdles in their professional progress and suggest ways forward for their bright future. A new cultural policy would also be devised in the light of recommendations of the convention,
she added.
She said a national artists fund would be established soon to
provide maximum opportunities to local, regional and national artists.
She said national film awards would also be announced soon to boost
film, cinema and production sectors of the industry.
The government would extend ful support to develop the film industry to compete at international level, she added.
Marriyum said in the past, quality films were produced on the theme of
nationalism but unfortunately for the last around 25 years no remarkable work was done.
For the revival of film industry, she said youth should come forward
and make films with new ideas. It was the collective responsibility of all to work for the promotion of country’s culture and today’s event was quite important in that regard, she added.
Marriyum said Pervaiz Rashid had been associated with the party
since its inception and his words conveyed his struggle for democracy.
He was a Senator and party worker, she added.
The minister said the Prime Minister had always worked whole heartedly for the country’s prosperity and the ratio of development works always remained high during his tenures.
During his current tenure, she said, law and order situation had
improved to a large extent in the country while reduction in loadshedding was made possible only due to his visionary policies.
Likewise, connecting far flung areas of the country with the vast
road network, revival of public transport system and launching of the
first countrywide health programme were major contributions of the
present government, she added.
Marriyum said they were proud of being connected with the land of
Himalayan mountains. Mountain peaks played a key role in the promotion of culture while the tourism industry was largely dependant on them, she added.
She said under IMFF, youth should work in close collaboration with
local mountaineers for the revival of tourism sector.
She said almost 60 per cent population of Pakistan was under 45
years of age and it was right time to engage them in cultural activities.
The minister asked Director General of Pakistan National Council of
the Arts (PNCA) Jamal Shah to sign memorandums of understanding with counterparts in other countries for promoting the country’s film
industry.
Later talking to media persons, the minister said Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf chief Imran Khan had been changing his statements after each hour and trying to destabilize the constitutional institutions while the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz government was committed to strengthen them.
“Imran had been presistently demanding formation of a commission on
the Panama Papers from day one, but yesterday he announced to boycott the commission, if formed,” she added.
Marriyum said Imran Khan believed in politics of anarchy and allegations. The people in 2018 election would decide as to who was sincere with the nation, she added.