PANAJI
With only two days to go for the opening of the 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India, Union I&B Minister has announced that actor Hema Malini who is also an MP from Mathura (UP) and Prasoon Joshi, lyricist and chairperson, CBFC will be conferred the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award for 2021 at the festival.
Announcing this, the festival director, Chaitanya Prasad gave an overview of the rich flavour and varied splendour of IFFI and what cine lovers can expect from this edition of the festival.
The vice chairman, Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) Subhash Phal Dessai and CEO, ESG, Tariq Thomas were also present at the media interaction.
Addressing the press conference, the director informed that for the first time in the history of IFFI, we have major OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Zee 5 and Viacom participating in the festival, with releases, masterclasses and more.
The two major global cinematic giants Martin Scorsese and Istevan Szabo are being honoured with the first Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award, he informed.
In a first, IFFI 52 delegates will get to attend a 3-day virtual masterclass by the renowned Paris-based school of image and arts, GOBELINS, l'école de l'image.
Students will get to attend the masterclass for free. The BRICS Film Festival is also being held on the side-lines of IFFI for the first time. There will be a special package presenting films from the five countries.
Speaking about the ‘75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow’ who will get to attend IFFI, the festival director informed that it was Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur’s idea to connect generations of film buffs by inviting the talented cinematic personalities of tomorrow to be a part of IFFI. “We have been overwhelmed with the 400 plus applications from across the country. The 75 applicants will be coming over to IFFI as our guests, they will get to meet everyone here. It will give them an opportunity to interact with filmmakers from across diverse segments of the industry,” he said.
