pune setting a precedent the immensely popular film appreciation course organised by the national film archive of india nfai and the film and television institute of india ftii has now been opened to candidates from pakistan according to nfai director ks sasidharan ajmal kamal editor of a karachibased film magazine is set to become the first pakistani participant in the 30year history of the film appreciation course the course starts on may 15 this year sasidharan said that the ministry of external affairs has cleared kamals visit subject to his selection this is a clear sign that diplomatic and cultural relations between the two countries are heading in a healthy direction it also reflects the growing interest in indian cinema in pakistan he adds the course gives participants a taste of the best of indian and world cinema around 100 classics fiction nonfiction documentary and children s films are screened a nod in the direction of current filmmaking trends has added digital films animated films and cartoons to this listthere are lectures on the history of indian and world cinema as well as classes on film theory and the different approaches to analysing films filmmakers screen their work during the course and discuss it with audiences pk nair former directornfai points out that the course represents the richness of the cinematic medium it includes a session on popular cinema which screens a hit film of the year and analyses its ingredients we started this course in the 1970s to make the public familiar with the language of cinema exposing audiences to a wide range of films broadens their vision satish bahadur former professor ftii is one of the pioneers of the course he stresses that the course is not meant to teach filmmaking but to direct participants to study film as an art form familiar names who have attended the course include ashutosh gowariker in his prelagaan days and actresses anita kanwar deepti naval and neena gupta the selection process for 2006 is in full swing the list of participants will be finalised in a couple of weeks