PANAJI
The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will begin with the conferring of Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award at the 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur made this announcement that for the first time, IFFI has invited major OTT players to participate in the festival. Istvan Szabo, one of the most critically acclaimed Hungarian film directors of the past few decades known for masterpieces like Mephisto (1981), Father (1966) and Martin Scorsese, one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, will be conferred with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Stating that India is a land of storytellers and that our tales have captured the imagination of the world, I&B Minister added that India’s wide variety of stories rightly makes us the content of the subcontinent. Thakur also informed that for the first time ever, IFFI has invited major OTT players to participate at the festival. In a first, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Voot and Sony Live will participate in the film festival through exclusive masterclasses, content launches and previews, curated film package screening and various other on-ground and virtual events. The union minister said that the trend of watching movies on OTT is on the rise and IFFI is embracing new technology and providing a platform for the industry artists to interact with OTT players.
For the first time ever, films from five BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China and India will be showcased through the BRICS Film Festival, alongside IFFI. The King of the entire World (El Rey de Todo EI Mundo) directed by Carlos Saura will be the opening film and this will also be the film’s international premier. The Power of the Dog, directed by Jane Campion, winner of the Best Director at Venice Film Festival, will be the Mid Fest Film. Around 30 films have been shortlisted for screening at 52nd IFFI from prominent international film festivals in the Festival Kaleidoscope and World Panorama section. This time, IFFI will pay homage to actors, Dilip Kumar, Sumitra Bhave, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Sanchari Vijay, Surekha Sikri, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bertrand Tavenier, Chistopher Plummer and Jean-Claude Carriere.
Platform for budding talent across India
The festival will provide a platform for young, budding talent from across India to connect with mainstream cinema filmmakers and the industry and 75 creative minds (under 35 years) will be invited to interact with industry leaders and attend masterclasses at the festival. These youngsters will be selected through competition for young filmmakers from around the country. The competition aims to provide a platform to 75 young filmmakers, actors, singers, scriptwriters and others to showcase their talent at a globally recognised event.
The last date to submit applications online is October 31.
Detailed guidelines to be followed while submitting films for the ‘75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow’, along with the application form, is available on www.dff.gov.in and www.iffi.org
