Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) is an international film festival, held annually in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, a place of tourist attractions. Every year Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) is held in the month of mid June. This film Festival is also the centre of attraction for the local and foreign tourists, because the month of June and July are the peak months in Jammu and Kashmir tourism.
Ladakh International Film Festival was first opened in the year 2012. It is the first international film festival held in Ladakh, a Himalayan town of Leh, the largest town in Ladakh, at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet. Thus it becomes the highest-altitude film festival in the world.
Ladakh International Film Festival hosts a number of films based on themes. The major theme of the festival was wildlife conservation in the year 2012. In partnership with the Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust, the festival offers the Snow Leopard Trophy for the most educational or inspiring film about an endangered species.
Ladakh International Film Festival 2012
Ladakh International Film Festival was organized by Kerala-based filmmaker Melwyn Williams Chirayath and his business associate Meghna Dubey, partners at Monasse Films. The first annual Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) was held on 15 to 17 June 2012. It was attended by Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. The festival chair person was film director Shyam Benegal, and the head of the jury was Assamese film director Jahnu Barua. There were 28 films in the competition category, with the winner to receive the Snow Leopard Trophy and one million rupees.
Ladakh International Film Festival 2013
The second annual Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) was initially planned for 5 to 7 July 2013. 2013 LIFF included the feature films, documentaries, short films, international films, Ladakh films, student films, and children`s films. There was also a retrospective of films by film director, poet, and lyricist Gulzar (Sampooran Singh Kalra), curated by Vishal Bhardwaj. Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) hosted the "Green Carpet", Indian premier of Mc Luhan`s The Frontier Gandhi, a film about non-violent Muslim freedom fighter of India, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra`s film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag about Indian sprinter Milkha Singh also received the Green Carpet premier.
