Patna, March 25: The state government has decided to promote documentary films by playing them in schools and colleges, information and public relations department minister Brishen Patel said today.

Patel was speaking at the inauguration of a three-day Bihar documentary film festival at AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies.

Taking a serious note of documentary films not getting a proper platform in the market, Patel said: “Many times I have heard that documentary films do not get an appropriate place in the market and they do not get a proper platform for promotion. Therefore, we have decided to play documentary films in government schools and colleges across the state. As documentary films are based on social issues it is very important for us to understand them.”

He said: “People gain knowledge through three perspectives — reading, listening and seeing. But I firmly believe people can learn more by seeing something because it has a direct impact on the mind of the viewer. At the same time these documentaries promote the rich heritage of our state.”

The minister said: “As funding is the biggest problem faced by the documentary filmmakers, the state government will support them because we want to keep these films alive. The state government will market them (the documentary films) because it is not like commercial movies, which is a big trade.”

Without taking his name, the minister took a dig at RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

“When Jharkhand was separated from Bihar, people used to say Bihar is only left with aaloo, baalu and a leader. But that was a complete misconception. Bihar still boasts of a renowned education institution like Nalanda University,” he said.

Asked what could be the objective behind the film festival, information and public relations department principal secretary Rajesh Bhushan said: “As the state government has organised this for the first time, our main objective is to give a proper platform to the documentary films because small and feature films do give the opportunity to display their skills.”

He added: “Second, these films would talk about the heritage of our state and its rich history, which could play a key role in the minds of the politicians.”

Chief co-ordinator of documentary film festival R.N. Das said documentary films are not like movies, which just have an entertainment value.

Das said: “Documentary films are made in public interest. Even though they do not get much recognition, marketing of these films is very important.”

He added: “People love to buy CDs that come in between Rs 30 and Rs 50 but people are not ready to spend the amount on documentary films, as they do not have much entertainment value. Thus, we have to create an interest among the common man regarding the need of these documentary films.”