Guwahati: Assamese filmmaker Santana Bordoloi on Friday said the taste for watching serious movie does not come overnight; the audience should develop it over a period of time.

The Adajya-famed director narrated her experiences during the opening session of the three-day 2nd Guwahati Film Festival that began at Jyoti Chitraban here on Friday evening. "The desire to watch serious movies does not come in a day, one has to make it a habit to watch such films," Bordoloi said.

She requested Chalachitram, the organiser of the festival that aims to showcase the heritage and culture of the country through films, to produce a generation that can appreciate serious movies. "If you can change the taste of one generation they will replicate it on generations to come," she added.

The All India Prachar Pramukh of the RSS Manmohan Vaidya and film critic Nayan Prasad were among others who attended the festival. It will conclude on Sunday.

Prasad said conducting film festivals here is a good sign as they are the platforms that can convey the message that there are good films beyond the commercial movies of Hollywood and Bollywood.

The screening of entries for Heritage Short Film Competition on the theme Our Heritage, Our Pride, which had started on February 25, took place on Friday. The awards will be handed over to the winners on the concluding day. An official of the festival said the film No, directed by Pranabjyoti Deka and Sujit Dev Barma, was selected the best film, while Manas Sagra-directed Little Hearts was second.

The festival opened with the screening of Om Rout-directed Lokmanya-Ek Yugpurush. Some of the films which will be screened in the festival are Rearing Eri with Traditional Values, Megh-The Cloud, Tropical Malady, Bathou Open the Door, Anundoram Borooah, Doctor Bezbaruah, I am Jeeja, Happy Birthday Joy, Nasty Woman, The Tea, and Atul.