“Vasantotsav – Spring Film Festival” well received by Guyanese

The High Commission of India and the Swami Vivekananda Culture Centre, organised the first-ever ‘Vasantotsav’ – Spring Film Festival of India – in Georgetown, Guyana, in March 2025, which was enthusiastically embraced by Guyanese.
The Festival was held in collaboration with the Caribbean Cinemas at their cinema halls in Giftland and Amazonia Malls. Six highly acclaimed Indian movies with English subtitles including, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”, “English Vinglish”, “Sand Ki Aankh”, “Gadar2”, “12th Fail” and “83”, were screened as part of the Film Festival.
The Festival was inaugurated by Dr Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Human Services & Social Security, in the presence of Dr Amit Telang, High Commissioner of India and Dr Deepali Telang, at the Caribbean Cinema in Giftland Mall.
In his opening remarks, the High Commissioner highlighted the global popularity of Indian cinema, and its role in promoting Indian culture, traditions and people-to-people contact, especially in Guyana with which India shares close historical and cultural relations.
Minister Persaud also underlined the popularity of Indian movies in Guyana, and their role in acting as a bridge between cultures and people.
One of the highlights of the Film Festival was a short movie “Old Toy Train” by young filmmakers Kevin Garbaran and Rae Wiltshire. It was the first theatrical screening of the “Old Toy Train” in Guyana.
In his remarks, the High Commissioner applauded the efforts of the entire team of “Old Toy Train”, and informed the audience about various training and capacity building initiatives available under India’s flagship Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme for young filmmakers in Guyana and the Caribbean.
The three-week long Vasantotsav concluded with the movie “83”, on March 23, celebrating the shared passion for cricket, which connects both India and Guyana, as well as the Caribbean.
Ashoka Buildcon, a renowned Indian infrastructure company, which is implementing a road project in Guyana under a US$ 50 million line of credit from the Government of India, gifted cricket kits to the oldest cricket club in Guyana, the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC).
The High Commissioner, in his remarks, also mentioned a proposal made by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji, at the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit in Guyana in November 2024, to promote women’s empowerment by training eleven young female cricketers from each CARICOM country in India.
The idea of Spring Film Festival also originated from Prime Minister Modiji’s address at the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit in Guyana in November 2024, in which he underscored Bollywood’s popularity, and suggested organisation of film festivals with CARICOM countries, to promote inter-cultural cooperation.
The Festival was made possible with valuable support from the External Publicity Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and the National Film Development Corporation under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India.
Vasantotsav was wholeheartedly welcomed by Indian-movie enthusiasts in Guyana, including the Government of Guyana, members of the Diplomatic Corps, media professionals, members of the Indian diaspora, and the student community in Guyana.
The Film Festival, first of its kind in recent years, underlined the pivotal role of Indian movies in strengthening inter-cultural understanding and promoting closer people -to-people ties between India and Guyana.