NEW DELHI: It is necessary to create awareness about the rights of the differently enabled and to treat them as members of the mainstream society if they are to contribute their bit to nation-building.

This sentiment was expressed by most speakers who addressed the inauguration of the 6th We Care Film Festival on disability issues, which opened in the capital this morning.

The four-day festival with 29 films from six countries including India has been organised by the National Trust and the non-governmental organisation Brotherhood in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), New Delhi, Oxfam India and the Asian Academy of Film and Television at Siri Fort Auditorium-2.

Children‘s Film Society India chairperson Nafisa Ali said that it was most important that the differently enabled get support from their families, the government and non-governmental institutions. She said life was the most important gift of God and humans should ‘join and celebrate this‘ by making a change.

She stated that the government should act more aggressively and there should be political will. As an example, she said films for children screened by CFSI had been made free of charge because of the initiative taken by then Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi. She further said that the CFSI was now showing films that were enabled for the hearing or visual impaired.

Shalini Dewan, director of the UN Information Centre, said the world body was marking sixty years of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and one year of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which was passed on 3 May last year. She said the aim should be to give equal rights to all and not discriminate those who were differently enabled.

She therefore said while it was important to provide amenities like opportunities, wheelchairs and hearing aids etc., it was equally important to show meaningful films that sent the correct messages and created awareness about the rights of the differently enabled. Noting that the festival had films from different countries, she said they would be judged on not only artistic merit but also as a starting point to start a movement for awareness.

Kunal Verma, director of marketing and communication in Oxfam India, said the marginalisation of the differently enabled has to end and a change has to be brought about in the mindsets of the people by ‘bringing down mental barbed wires‘.

The Festival showcases films which portray people with disabilities as role models living life with dignity and independence. Besides the Inaugural film from Manipur, there will be premier of films from Unites States and Philippines and also screening of documentaries from United Kingdom, Spain, and Israel and from various parts of India – all highlighting the positive contribution of people with disabilities to society.

The festival aims to reach out to children, college students and people working in the corporate sector with the message of inclusion – that people with disabilities can be part and parcel of the country‘s economic and social growth. Research shows that in most countries, the majority of children with disabilities do not know any disabled adults and, consequently, many have a difficult time in imagining their future. This film festival is an opportunity for children with disabilities to observe adults with disabilities undertaking a wide variety of activities and leading a dignified and independent life. This film festival, in effect, will give an opportunity to children with disability to imagine their future and will introduce positive role models.

22 out of 29 documentaries have been especially made for the festival by the filmmakers, students of Mass Communication, Journalism and filmmaking institutions from India and abroad. The festival also has documentaries from various parts of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Manipur, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Pune, Bangalore, Kerala etc in all the competitive categories – up to one minute, five minutes, 30 minutes and 60 minutes.