Curtains will come down on the nine-day 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2017 today. The euphoria of the festival will subside until next year, but this year's fest has certainly stirred the right emotions among local filmmakers who offered a slice of Goa to the world audience.
It's been 13 years that IFFI got rooted in Goa and despite the initial hiccups, the festival has been gaining ground. This time around, the Bollywood flavour was clearly on display with a galaxy of stars including Shahrukh Khan, Sridevi and Salman Khan in the lineup.
But behind all the glitz and glamour, it's time to introspect on what IFFI brings to the table for the Goan film industry. The participation of two feature films and five non-feature films in its special section of premier films produced by Goan film producers were well received. Introduced this year was a new concept, Bioscope - a village with a theme of New Age Cinema with four inflated theatres and skill studios offering technical guidance to budding filmmakers. The short film competition themed ‘IFFI as never seen before', workshops by renowned film makers, interactions, discussions, meet the director opportunities and ‘Katta' where eminent stars had direct dialogue with the public, were the other big takeaways for local filmmakers.
The aftertaste that IFFI left behind was satisfying. The freshness the new faces brought and the treatment offered to regional cinema, both national and international was heart-warming. Even low-budget regional cinema by budding filmmakers got a decent shot in the arm. The talking point, however, were the rich flavours of regional cinema, and what it can offer to the rest of the world through its authentic and honest storytelling. Can it break barricades of intolerance? The socio-cultural barriers are no more seen as hurdles in film making with enhanced digital technology and the umpteen social media platforms that are now available for young filmmakers. Hence, stories that speak of culture, myths and legends in their own language have surfaced and have been appreciated.
The only woman on the international jury panel, Maxine Williamson was seen publicly admiring and honouring India for its important role on the canvas of world cinema and as a country with diverse cultures, multiple faiths, languages and religions. On the eve of the closing ceremony, a promise came from Jordan Reeves, Consul General of Canada who not only attended the festival with a team of two dozen film personalities from Canada but was also vocal about having more collaborative projects in cinema between the two countries. Offering a slice of Goa to India and rest of the world, IFFI's message is loud and clear - it's time to wake up and smell cinema!
