Entries in several Indian languages at Singapore film fest

Singapore, Aug 5 (IANS) Films in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese and Ladakhi will be showcased at the third edition of Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg. SAIFF).

"Ranj" directed by Sunit Sinha, "Kathaah" directed by Shilpa Krishnan, "Oththa Seruppu Size 7" directed by R. Parthiban and "Space MOMs" directed by Radha Bharadwaj will have their world premieres at the festival.

Dr. Biju's Malayalam film "Veyilmarangal" ("Trees Under The Sun"), the Marathi films "Dithee" directed by Sumitra Bhave and "Mai Gat: Crime No. 103/2005" directed by Anant Mahadevan, and the Tamil films "KD" directed by Madhumita Sundararaman and "Oththa Seruppu Size 7" by Parthiban, are in the competition section.

In all, 45 films from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan, Singapore, Bangladesh and Iran will be screened between August 30 and September 7 at the festival across various venues in Singapore this year.

"Films have a universal language and our aim at Sg.SAIFF is to screen films from all over South Asia to help connect people across the globe through cinema," said Abhayanand Singh, the festival's chairman.

Piiyush Singh, co-chairman of the festival, is excited to have films from all over South Asia. "Sg.SAIFF believes in promoting films of the talents who believe in making world class cinema and we are proud to have a platform where all kinds of films from South Asia can come globally together," he said.

"Our team has meticulously selected the best of films from South Asia to ensure it satiates film lovers. The idea is to try and reach the next higher level with each passing year when it comes to the quality of films screened at the festival," added Srinivasan Narayan, festival director.