Shimla: 81 films to be screened during a three-day fest.

• A total of 81 films will be screened during the three-day International Film Festival of Shimla commencing at Gaiety theatre on August 26.
• As many as 27 films would be screened in the international category besides 34 Indian films, four Himachali films and 15 national award-winning films during the eighth edition of the festival.
• Bollywood actress Divya Dutta will be celebrity guest and screening of her transgender-based film Sheer Korma starring Shabana Azmi, Divya Dutta and Swara Bhaskar in lead roles will be presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, said Festival Director Pushp Raj Thakur.
• Documentary, animation, feature and short films from Canada, America, Lebanon, Spain, Iran, Taiwan, Brazil, Iceland, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, Greece, Belgium, Denmark and Russia will be screened in the film festival.
• Fifty film directors from across the country and abroad will participate in the festival. This time a film exhibition is also being organised by the National Film Archives of India, Pune, depicting and deliberating the history and growth of cinema in India.

HISTORY

• Gaiety Theatre was opened on 30 May 1887, to a design by the English architect Henry Irwin.
• It is an example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture, derived from British Victorian examples.
• It was once part of the large Town Hall Complex. It had a capacity of more than 300 people.
• Initially, it was a five-story building with a theatre, ballroom, armoury, police office, bar, and galleries.
• After nearly two decades from its date of establishment, it was found that the building was structurally unsafe.
• It was partially demolished, but the Gaiety Theatre remains untouched.