Jharkhand will host its maiden science film festival in the small town of Lohardaga, known for its bauxite mines, from April 29.

A total of 45 films will be screened in various categories such as documentaries, short films, animation and feature films during the three-day festival. More than 10 filmmakers will take part in the festival. The filmmakers will also interact with the audience after screening of their film.

The festival would be hosted by Science for Society, Lohardaga unit, and would see works by nationally acclaimed filmmakers such as Biju Toppo from Ranchi who earned laurels at the Vatavaran Film Fest in Pune for his film on Jharia, Aditya Seth, Mohan Anandrao Dhuldhar and Akash Rajput, whose short documentary My life as a snail was a winner at the International Science Film Festival of India in Goa last year..

Seth’s documentary His Experiments with Science, and Dhuldhar’s short film Ankur, which was screened at 10th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival 2021 and at International Science Film Festival of India 2021, will be screened at the festival.

Director Yousuf Saeed’s Yashpal: A life in science, a documentary on India’s senior scientist Yashpal, is also there on the festival’s screening list.

Ranchi-based film maker Deepak Bara’s award-winning short film on mica mines and Prabal Mahato’s film on uranium mines, Buddha Weeps in Jadugoda, will also be shown at the festival.

“This is the first time that a science film festival would be organised in a tribal state like Jharkhand. We had last year gone to Goa for the international science film festival of India and since then we have been planning to host it. We are glad to have received support from our members of Science for Society units across Jharkhand for this effort,” said the festival coordinator Vikash Kumar.

“Most of the film festivals are held in capital Ranchi or in big cities like Jamshedpur. However we plan to host such a fest in different divisions like Chaibasa in Kolhan and Sahebganj in Santhal Pargana,” Vikash added.

Rahul Kumar, secretary of Science for Society, Lohardaga unit, said that they aim to bring science to the masses.

“Our objective is to bring science to the masses and get rid of superstitions from the society, especially in tribal-dominated areas like Lohardaga. Scientific mentality is the need of the hour to get rid of social evils like witch-hunting and faith in quacks. We are glad to receive support from Hindalco Industries Limited’s mines division for hosting the festival,” said Kumar.

In order to promote scientific consciousness among the students, the society along with district education officer will be organising a painting and slogan competition at the school level on April 26 and 27.