PANAJI
The 53rd edition of the International Film Festival of India is all set to get off to a colourful start with a star-studded inaugural ceremony on November 20 at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Bambolim.
Governor P S Sreedharan, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur and Minister of State for I&B Dr L Murugan will be among the dignitaries at the inaugural.
The opening ceremony will also be graced by top B-Town celebrities like Ajay Devgan, Sunil Shetty and Prabhu Deva, Mrunal Takhur, Varun Dhawan, Catherine Teresa, Sara Ali Khan, Karthik Aryan and Amritha Khanvilkar.
This edition of the festival will present a potpourri of 280 films from 79 countries. The big draws will be films which have won multiple awards at prestigious film festivals around the world, like Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Venice.
Twenty-five feature films and 20 non-feature films from India will be showcased in the ‘Indian Panorama’ while 183 films will be a part of international programming.
Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Dr L Murugan announced that Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura will be honoured with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award and an eight-film retrospective at IFFI.
The second edition of ‘75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow’ is another attraction. The number of filmmakers being recognized is symbolic of 75 years of Indian Independence.
‘Film Bazaar’ will screen some of the finest films and filmmakers in various sections.
For the first time, Pavilions will make an appearance at IFFI in line with major international markets like the Marche du Cannes.
This year, there will be a total of 42 Pavilions. They will house the film offices of the various state governments, the participating countries, industry players and media units from the ministry.
This will also be the first time when many restored classics will be available at ‘The Viewing Room’ where one would be able to buy the rights of these films and use them at film festivals across the globe.
