New Delhi, Jul 2 (UNI) The eighth edition of the Jagran film festival kicked off here last night with inauguration by Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor. The launch of the festival was marked by a special screening of the unreleased movie 'Fakir of Venice', and witnessed presence of the Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Maliki. Also present were the film's Director and Producer duo - Anand Surapur and Punit Desai. Several acclaimed actors, dignitaries and filmmakers were present at the launch of India’s only Travelling Film Festival 2017. Speaking at the ceremony, the Morocco Ambassador described the Jagran Film Festival as a great initiative to bond people for the love of cinema. Mr Rishi Kapoor followed by Mr Naqvi, director and producer of The Fakir of Venice, also spoke. The event saw screening of new and bold narratives and the mega trailer launch of the most anticipated film of the year ‘Mom’, which opens in cinemas this week. Day one also saw the screening of popular Bollywood films, including Hindi Medium, Naam Shabana, and the rare European titles-Purple Horizons and Horses of God. Launched in 2009, the Jagran film festival is marked as India’s only Traveling Film Festival, executed in a way to transcend cultural and geographical boundaries of India and unite them for the love of cinema. The festival has gained immense popularity and each year, it attempts to present a treat for cinema lovers by showing unique and popular movies during the show. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Basant Rathore, Senior vice-president, Jagran Prakashan said, “I am elated to be a part of the 8th edition of the Jagran Film Festival which is truly India’s only Traveling Film Festival. We have successfully presented a series of local and international film screenings every year, and the fact that many leading personalities of Bollywood embrace the occasion every year to share their passion, views and further engage with cinema, is a testimony to the fact that how much they love this distinguished platform. We are honoured to have their participation, and at the same time, see the amazing response from the growing audience every year.” In 2017 too, a mix of famous and critically acclaimed movies will screened at the festival venues throughout the country. On the screening list are famous movies including Hindi titles like Agneepath, Pink, Shivaay, and MS Dhoni: The Untold Story to share few names. Renowned English movies, including The Social Network and Black Cat and other foreign language movies like Bravo Virtuoso and The Letter Box will be played across the different venues (of Jagran Film Festival) in India in 2017. The Kingdom of Morocco is the ‘Country Focus’ partner at the festival in 2017. This fresh association means a bunch of ten Moroccan feature retreats for cinema-lovers in the 16 cities of India. Some prominent sections of the Festival are World Panorama, Indian Showcase, Jagran Shorts, Jagran Discovery, Country Focus and the Retrospective of films. The 2017 edition of Jagran Film Festival will traverse from Delhi to the Indian hinterlands of Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Dehradun, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhopal, Indore, Hisar, Ludhiana, Meerut, Raipur, and culminate in Mumbai. UNI AR RSA 1258