Daijiworld Media Network - Goa (mb)
from special correspondent
with pics by Rajtilak Naik
Chief minister Digamkar Kamat addressing at the closing ceremony of the 38th International Film Festival of India at Kala Academy in Panaji
Director at the directorate of the film festivals Neelam Kapur addresses the gathering
Chief guest of the evening, noted film-maker Buddhadeb Dasgupta addressing the audience at Kala Academy
The main entrance of kala Academy
Buddhadeb Dasgupta with the winners of the 38th International Film festival of India at Kala Academy in Panaji on Monday. Seen from the left are DFF secretary Pyarelal, director of DFF Neelam Kapur, Luis Manuel, representative of the Special Jury Award, Silver Peacock award for best child actor Julia Urbini in the Mexican film 'More than anything in the world', representative of the Silver peacock award for the promising Director of a Thailand film ' Me Myself' Pongpat Wachirabun Jong, Golam Rabbany Biplob, joint winner of the special jury award, Silver peacock for his film 'Swopnodanay', mayor of Panaji Tony Rodrigues , CM Kamat and governor Mr s c Jamir. Representative of the The Golden Peacock-winning Taiwanese film 'The Wall' could not make it to the awards ceremony on account of unavoidable circumstances
Representative of the Special Jury Award, Silver Peacock award for best child actor Julia Urbini in the Mexican film 'More than anything in the world' representative of the Silver peacock award for the promising Director of a Thailand film ' Me Myself' Pongpat Wachirabun Jong, Golam Rabbany Biplob, joint winner of the special jury award, Silver peacock for his film 'Swopnodanay'.
Panaji, Dec 4: The 38th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2007, which had been inaugurated by Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan went on without much Bollywood glamour in it, with more stress on the regional cinema.
Housed in a once-dilapidated hospital complex, which was refurbished at a cost of Rs 14 crore by Goa government, the festival saw Pakistani film "Khuda ke liye" being discussed as hot favourite among all besides the bouquet of French films and serious regional cinema.
Manipuri films made their entry after a gap of eleven years for the festival which, for the first time, had introduced ticketing concept for the delegates, filmmakers andthe media.
After initial hiccups, the ticketing system helped the organizers – directorate of film festival and Entertainment Society of Goa – to do away with the queues at the cinema hall and chaos resultant of those long wait to watch the film.
The closing ceremony crowd in Kala Academy
Bollywood actor and model Pooja Bedi during the closing ceremony of the 38th International Film Festival of India at Kala Academy in Panaji, with a companion
Noted Bollywood and Hollywood actor Kabir Bedi compered the event
Noted Film-maker Shekhar Kapoor at the closing ceremony of the 38th International Film Festival of India at Kala Academy in Panaji
Splendid firework display during the closing ceremony of the 38th International Film Festival of India at Panaji on Monday
"The system will continue in future," director of film festivals Neelam Kapoor told mediapersons, while talking about the ticketing system which is a concept in vogue at international film festivals across the globe.
Nearly 200 screenings were held for the festival across on seven screens. For the first time, on Monday, the organizers declared dropping of a theatre from the venue, citing 'technical reasons'.
The screening glitches had irked renowned south Indian filmmakers acting upon whose complaint the organizers decided to drop the venue cancelling three films, which were to have repeat shows there.
The festival went at a much smoother pace without any bitter arguments, which were witnessed during last three years in Goa. The absence of Bollywood at the festival, however, received mixed reactions.
Except Dev Anand, Raima Sen, Pankaj Kapoor, Supriya Pathak, Bhavana Talwar and a few others, Bollywood glamour was out of the picture at the festival.
The festival also saw the mainstream cinema section being struck off the itinerary. The section is usually dominated by Hindi films. "This was a conscious decision. Also, we could not get the sub-titled films," Kapoor told the press conference on Monday.
The Romanian film 'Four months, Three Weeks and Two Days', winner of the Golden Palm Award, Festival de Cannes 2007, marked the opening of the festival. While Portuguese-Spanish film `Fados' was the choice as concluding film for this Asia's oldest film festival, which is being held for the fourth year in a row in Goa .
The choice of films for Indian Panorama section was much appreciated by the delegates. The section had 21 feature and 15 non-feature films comprising two movies, each of Bengali filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta and one of South India's one of the most renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
The latest record available from directorate of film festival (DFF) revealed that around 3,500 delegates had registered for the festival till the last date. There was a posse of 300 mediapersons who covered the festivities.
The organizers had done away with the peripheral activities near the venues this year, thereby eliminating the rush. Instead, the activities were planned at ten different venues across the state, including Baina beach, which had the dubious reputation as a red light area until a few years ago.
IFFI 2007 - Comprehensive Coverage:
IFFI Sidelights:
Run-up to IFFI 2007:
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