Bhubaneshwar: A festival of films on arts and artistes may not be a regular glamorous Bollywood affair, but the Orissa Film Festival gathered some A-listers as guests, even when it is held in a non-metro like Bhubaneshwar.

The festival is only in its second year and is being held in a corner of the country that is not known for showbiz of any sort.

And going by that, the presence of a galaxy of renowned filmmakers leaves one surprised. Organised by artist Jatin Das, the festival only focuses on short films based on performing art and artists including a tribute to master artist Ram Kinkar Baij by Ritwik Ghatak, Shyam Bengal's documentary on Konark, a short film on Chetan Anand by his brother Ketan Anand.

The organiser Jatin Das said, "I've been away for 49 years, in Bombay and now in Delhi, I'm not returning here but I'm trying to shed baggage."

Filmmaker, Amol Palekar shared his view about the event, "I think it's very important that the event did not take place in main metros, as it is not a glamorous event and it would get over shadowed in metros."

Founder Cinefan, Aruna Vasudev was optimistic as she said, "Orissa is a great cultural centre, but it's gone into decay, but hopefully an event like this should stir it up."

With a genre of films that are often seen as a neglected stepchild, the Orissa Film Festival just may shift the focus on the right spot.