It was a glorious moment, to see ISFFI unfurling it`s sixth edition and setting momentum to the two day short film festival, that kickstarted at Shree Annai Abirami Theatre in Abirami Mega Mall on the 17th of March at 10 am in the presence of a number of distinguished guests. The guests of honour who graced the occasion were Mr. Abirami Ramanathan, Mr. Gnana Rajasekaran, Director SS Stanley, Director Brinda Sarathy, Director Nanda Periyasamy, Director Saravana Subaiya and Director Kulandai Velapppan. The festival took off with the lighting of the traditional lamp by dignitaries, followed by the words of welcome by the festival director Fr. Harris. After the felicitations, Mr. Abirami Ramanathan, the Managing director of Abirami Theatres Private Ltd, and President of Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owner`s Federation and Chennai City Film Exhibitor`s Association in his inaugural address congratulated DBICA for creating a platform for short films and appreciated the film directors present for their fraternity towards the festival. He affirmed that these festivals provided a unique opportunity to film makers and students to develop their creativity and scripting styles. He concluded assuring the short film makers of his continued support for this novel initiative. Mr. Gnana Rajasekaran IAS and Director cum Dean of Sivaji Ganesan Film Institute while addressing the audience appreciated the consistent effort of DBICA in taking forward the Short Film Festival for the sixth time. He clarified the notion of Short films, and he explained how the story, screenplay and the narrative structure of short films could be treated to bring out the best within the short span of time. He insisted that media students should explore more on creative writing and quality thinking, before visualizing the creative idea. Mr. SS Stanley, noted film maker proudly acknowledged as DBICA`s constant collaborator in all media related novel initiatives, congratulated the ISFFI organizers for their perseverance in taking ISFFI to it`s sixth edition, despite the challenges they faced. He stated that Short films were also like entrance tests, giving the possibility to qualify oneself to enter into mainstream media and also join as assistants under veteran film makers. He also added that exposure, accessibility of equipment, digital convergence and low cost factors have been a big boon to students to enter into the world of media. Mr. Saravana Subbaiah was in enthusiastic self, setting fire to the audience with a number of questions, interactions and wonderful insights from the epics, bible and so on. He gave several examples to explain the nuances in understanding the creative ideas of the great filmmakers, writers and scholars, and concluded, by motivating the young and amateur filmmakers to move towards greater achievements and laurels in the field of media. Mr. Brindha Sarathy, noted script writer and director reiterated that quality in script writing could make the delivery powerful and convincing, and exhorted the film makers to give importance to quality writing. Mr. Nandha Periyasamy, applauded the gesture of Mr. Abirami Ramanathan in giving his theatre for such a noble cause and that too in a week end. He affirmed that a good creative filmmaker should be a blend of several qualities like creativity, openness, dedication, perseverance, patience, and hard work, and that possessing them should be the challenge of the film makers. This was followed by the official declaration of ISFFI 2012 by all the dignitaries after which the screening began with the ISFFI 2012 promo. The first day of the screening was spaced out in three shows in which around 29 shorts from various countries were screened. Many film makers from across the country who were present introduced their films and spoke of the rationale of their creations. The first day of screening concluded by 6 pm, and it witnessed an enthusiastic turnout of film lovers, talking and discussing about the short films they viewed, as they left the theatre.