Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Berhampore (Agenzia Fides) - The city of Berhampore is preparing for a Film Festival in honour of Mother Teresa of Calcutta: four days of films and debate from 27 - 30 June at Rabindra Sadan, and also the unveiling of a statue of Mother Teresa. The coordinator of the event is Fr K. Sebastian, parish priest of Berhampore Catholic church. The almost 2 metre high statue made of cement has been placed in the centre of a flowerbed surrounded by fibreglass decorations situated as the cross roads between the Magistrates Office and the Murshidabad general head quarters. The statue is the work of Kanchan Karmakar a local artist. With this act the people of Berhampore wished to render homage to Blessed Teresa di Calcutta who visited the city during the centenary year of the death of Saint Don Bosco in 1988.
Archbishop Lucas Sirkar SDB of Calcutta, and Bishop Joseph Gomez SDB of Krishnagar and Bishop Brojen Malakar of Barrackpore and the Kolkata Salesian provincial superior, Fr. John Berger, will unveil the statue on June 24, in an open air ceremony attended by the entire civil administration.
The Film Festival is directed by the Salesiano C.M. Paul, who organised the first International Film Festival on Mother Teresa at Kolkata with the projection of 10 films on her life. The four day Festival was organised on the occasion of the beatification of Mother Teresa in 2003.
Berhampore Festival 2007 will open with a film in English on the figure of Mother Teresa produced by Domenique Lapierre a great admirer of the saintly nun. It took him 15 years to make the film. The second film at the Festival is a documentary “Mother Teresa”, enriched by commentary by Sir Richard Attenborough. The third film “Mother Teresa: her legacy”, was filmed in the Vatican on the occasion of the beatification in 2003. The fourth and only film in Bengalese, is a 16 minute selection of rare slides from a collection by Nikita Don Bosco Kolkata which reflect the mission of Albanian born Blessed Mother Teresa to love the poorest of the poor. (K.P.) (Agenzia Fides 19/6/2007; righe 23, parole 335)
