Srinagar, Oct 26 (IANS): In an endeavour to put Srinagar city on the Map of the International Film Festival Circuit and to pay a special tribute to the legendary Bollywood actor Dev Anand on his 100th birth anniversary, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad on Wednesday threw open the “International Film Festival of Srinagar” (TIFFS) at Tagore Hall.

The TIFFS organised by RIFK Entertainment in association with Vomedh, a cultural organization, will take place at Tagore Hall over the course of two days, on October 25 and October 26 in which over 200 films from 37 countries have been submitted, culminating in a selection of 17 outstanding films including Feature Films, Short films and Documentaries for two-day screening.

The DC congratulated the organisers for holding the “International Film Festival of Srinagar” and also qualifying entries in the festival.

He hoped that such initiatives provide a platform for local youth to learn the film concepts and art of acting, direction, and production thereby tempting them to showcase their cinematic talent at national and international levels.

Recalling the deep-rooted connections of Bollywood with Kashmir, the DC said: "Bollywood, Kashmir and cinema have a very strong relation made by nature and cannot be separated."

The DC further said that cinema has also played a major role in promoting tourism by familiarising the viewers with a large number of scenic and culturally rich locations of Kashmir valley.

The DC also underlined the significance of the Film Policy launched by the government to create a vibrant film ecosystem in Jammu & Kashmir.

He said that with the adoption of the policy, the permissions to the production houses for filmmaking in J&K have been made simple and hassle-free through a single-window mechanism.