Daijiworld Media Network - Goa (MB)
from special correspondent
- More stress on regional cinema
- Shah Rukh Khan to inaugurate the event
Panaji, Nov 22: The International film festival of India (IFFI) this time has more stress on the regional cinemas, director of film festival, Neelam Kapoor said.
"If you look at Indian Panorama section, it is full of regional cinemas," Kapoor said.
Apparently, DFF's act follows constant criticism from the south Indian filmmakers who rued being ignored during the festival in Goa. Last year, the festival saw some unmanageable scenes with filmmakers complaining of gross mismanagement.
"Compared to Bollywood, regional cinema is more vibrant and much ahead," Kapoor stated adding that IFFI should be able to provide commercial market to the regional films.
She said that 'Navya' Movement in Kannada language that has inspired a generation of filmmakers and marked a turning point in Kannada cinema is one of the highlight for the festival.
Three landmark Kannada films - Pattabhi Rama Reddy's Samskara, Late B V Karanth's Chomana Dudi and Girish Kasravalli's Ghatashraddha - will be screened under the Navya Movement and Kannada Cinema.
Kapoor said that regional films, if dubbed or sub-titled, can have major market in the metros.
Ensuring fairer regional balance for IFFI, the festival's inauguration and concluding ceremonies will have presence of south Indian and Bengali film personalities.
While south Indian actress Priya Mani will be present along with Shahrukh khan for the inaugural function, Bengal's renowned filmmaker Buddhabeb Dasgupta would grace the concluding function.
SRK to inaugurate, in Dasmunshi's presence
Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan will inaugurate the 38th edition of international film festival of India, the ten-day extravaganza which will showcase around 200 best films.
South India actress Priya Mani will also be the special invitee for the function. Union information and broadcasting minister P R Dasmunshi and Goa chief minister Digamber Kamat will be present as the important guests for the festival.
Right from the year 2004, when the festival was shifted to Goa, it is being held at venues tucked on the Mandovi river bank. This time, four more theatres are added to the festival infrastructure.
Romanian film Four months, Three Weeks and Two Days, w inner of Golden Palm Award, Festival de Cannes 2007, will be inaugural film for the festival which will be screened at Dinananth Mangueshkar Auditorium, Kala Academy , a venue for inaugural function.
Georgia and Pakistan will be making their maiden appearance for the festival this year while Manipur will make a comeback after a gap of eleven years.
The organizers have also introduced, for the first time in IFFI history, advance ticketing system for delegates, filmmakers and media. Despite opposition from media, the organizers have stuck to their plan of ticketing terming it as a imitation of system followed in international film festivals.
The last record available from directorate of film festival (DFF) revealed that around 3,500 delegates have registered for the festival till the last date. There is a posse of 300 mediapersons who will be covering the festivities.
Working with a limited budget, almost half that of last year, the local hosts, entertainment society of Goa (ESG) has cut down on the peripheral activities. But the cultural activities and film screenings are planned at ten different venues across the state spending Rs 1.5 crore.
The organizers this year have had wide range of films selected for this festival, which is considered as Asia's oldest film festival.
The Indian Panorama will have 21 feature and 15 non-feature films. This section will have two movies each of Bengali filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta and South India 's one of the most renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalkrishnan.
The feature film jury is headed by renowned filmmaker K S Sethumadhavan while non feature film is led by Arun Khopkar.
The feature film jury members comprise Manju Borah, Leslie Carvalho, Abhijeet Dasgupta, Dr. Mrunalinni Patil Dayal and Shubhra Gupta.
The non feature film jury has Pankaj Butalia, Kavita Chaudhary, and Gautam Saikia.
The Cinema of the World section will have about 60 award winning feature films from 40 countries. In the foreign film category, fourteen feature films from Asia , Africa and Latin America will be showcased in the competitive section.
Celebrating India's 60 years of independence, a special section is programmed which will showcase documentaries from films division besides feature films from three languages. Aptly titled `` India @60", the section will have all its content with the spirit of freedom and patriotism.
Indian Retrospectives will showcase Retrospective on the films of Tapan Sinha and Vijay Anand. Homages section will focus on Cinematographer K.K. Mahajan, Actress Vanamala Devi and Music Director O.P. Nayyar.
On the final day, December three, the curtains will come down with the screening of critically-acclaimed Portuguese-Spanish film Fados -Melding of Culture, Customs and Sound. Bengali filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta will be present as the chief guest for the concluding function which will announce and distribute coveted prizes for the films in competition section.
Some recent, IFFI-related headlines: