MUMBAI: The second edition of Chandigarh Film Festival proved to be a great success with the presence of veteran directors, actors, dancers and professionals from the field of cinema, reports punjabnewsline.com.

Screening of various international, national and children movies, interactive sessions, presentations, book releases, quiz contests and workshops made the festival a big hit.

The festival opened with the presence of noted film directors like Shyam Benegal, Dr MS Sathyu, and film actress and Children Film Federation of India chairman Nafisa Ali. Union Territory administrator Pradip Mehra formally inaugurated the festival. As part of the festival, film actress-dancer Hema Malini performed Durga, a Bharat Natyam ballet at local Leisure Valley on the evening of the first day.

To lend an international flavour to the festival, six international films were screened at the festival. These films were from France, Croatia, Hungary and Iran, adds the punjabnewsline.com report.

The festival also saw interactive sessions with Benegal, Sathyu and Anil Sharma. Benegal released two books titled Music in Traditional Indian Theatre by Dr Rani Balbir Kaur and Gender Relations and Cultural Ideology in Indian Cinema by Dr Indubala Singh, the report informs.

Aimed at projecting the excellence of the film art by providing a common platform to national and international films, the festival also held interactions with directors like Kamal Nathani and Pammy Sommal. It also aimed at promotion, understanding and appreciation of film cultures of different nations through the medium of international films and promoting friendship and co-operation among different nations.