Srinagar: Five films made by filmmakers from Jammu and Kashmir have been selected for the competitive section of the first International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir (IFFJK) 2026. The movies tell stories about childhood, family, displacement, memory, culture and life in the valley.
All five films will be screened during the four-day inaugural IFFJK as part of the competitive programme. Their inclusion gives filmmakers from the union territory an opportunity to present their work before audiences and fellow filmmakers in a festival setting.
The films have been selected for the J&K Select Section, the festival’s competitive category. The preview committee constituted for the IFFJK reviewed the submissions and recommended the five films after assessing their artistic quality and suitability for the competition. The selected movies are ‘ Searching for the Grandpa ’, directed by Mohammad Wali; ‘ Arifa ’, directed by Rohin Ravendran Nair; ‘ Batt Koch (The Pandit Lane) ’, directed by Siddarth Koul and Ankit Wali; ‘ Tasrufdaar (Djinns of Kashmir) ’, directed by Kapil Mattoo; and ‘ Naqsh-e-Daur (The Story of Ghulam Nabi Dhar) ’, directed by Baba Tassaduq Hussain. Shot in Kashmiri and Hindi, the movies cover different genres and subjects while telling stories about the lives and experiences of people in the region. Their stories move through family relationships, childhood memories, displacement, questions of identity, cultural traditions and the everyday realities of Kashmir. ‘ Searching for the Grandpa ’ takes viewers into a Kashmiri village during Eid through the eyes of two young siblings. The film deals with childhood, family and memory, using the experiences of the children to tell a story rooted in ordinary village life. ‘ Arifa ’ follows a woman who returns to her ancestral home in the valley. Her journey brings back memories of her childhood and her father. It gives the film a personal story about family, home and memories of a place. The idea of home is explored differently in ‘ Batt Koch (The Pandit Lane) ’. It explores displacement and identity through the experiences of a Kashmiri migrant family. It looks at what happens to a family’s relationship with its home when circumstances force it to leave. ‘ Tasrufdaar (Djinns of Kashmir) ’ brings mystery and memory together. The film also deals with the lasting impact of Kashmir’s past, exploring memories that continue to affect people’s lives. The fifth selection, ‘ Naqsh-e-Daur (The Story of Ghulam Nabi Dhar) ’, turns to Kashmir’s traditional craftsmanship. The documentary tells the life story and legacy of Padma Shri award-winning woodcarver Ghulam Nabi Dhar from downtown Srinagar. His work provides a window into the region’s traditional craft, cultural heritage and the resilience of an artist who devoted his life to preserving it. The five films together offer a detailed picture of Kashmir through different personal stories. Childhood and family stories appear along with displacement and questions of identity, while memory connects personal experiences to Kashmir’s history. The films also highlight cultural traditions and the social changes that have affected people’s lives. The first edition of the IFFJK is also set to give greater visibility to filmmakers working in the region and to films that draw directly from its cultural and social life. With the J&K Select Section, the festival has created a dedicated competitive space for these voices, bringing stories made in and around Jammu and Kashmir into the main festival programme. The selections also show the range of subjects being explored by filmmakers from the region, from the intimate memories of a family and the world of children to the experience of migration and the preservation of traditional art. Each film approaches Kashmir from its own setting and perspective, giving the competitive section a varied line-up for the festival’s first edition.
