The
International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is one of Asia’s oldest and India’s biggest film
festival. Hosted in Goa since 2004 through the Entertainment Society of Goa
(ESG), IFFI is organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting and the Government of India, in collaboration with
the State Government of Goa and the Indian Film Industry. A huge opportunity
for film lovers and makers, the festival provides a platform to watch great
films and interact with a multitude of film personalities, both national and
international.
This edition of the
festival will be presenting 195 films from over 82 countries, which includes 10
world premieres, 10 Asian and International premieres and over 64 Indian
premieres as part of the official programme. The festival went underway
yesterday with ‘Beyond the Clouds’ by Majid Majidi. A record number of women
filmmakers in addition to a section of Restored Classics from across the globe
are part of the festival. Among many other firsts at the Festival, IFFI 2017
will present a specially curated section celebrating the most loved fictional
spy, James Bond. The section will showcase films featuring the various leading
actors who have essayed the iconic character, through a package of nine films.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The festival will
also host a mixed reality sidebar featuring virtual reality and augmented
reality activities in addition to a series of master classes and panel
discussions featuring the who’s who of the entertainment industry, including
noted filmmakers Atom Egoyam, Shekhar Kapur, Nitesh Tiwari and Farah Khan, as
well as Oscar winning sound designer Craig Mann.
This year’s special
attraction during IFFI 2017 is the Bioscope Village opposite Old GMC building,
Panjim. There will be cinema for children every day at 2.30pm, 5.30pm and
9.30pm and interviews and interaction with celebrities between 7.30pm and
8.30pm. ESG has also planned a special section at Skill Studio between 12 noon
and 1pm every day, with Mrinal Kulkarni, Rasool and Amrit Pritam Dutta (sound),
Sudhir Mishra (direction), Wendell Rodricks (fashion and costume), Mukesh
Chabbra (casting) and Shekhar Kapur (international cinema).
The third edition of
Russian Film Days, a world-class film festival that showcases the best of
contemporary and classic Russian cinema, will be a part of IFFI. The movies to
be screened at IFFI Goa are ‘Loveless’ in the competition section and
‘Hostages’, ‘Closeness’, ‘Light Up’ and ‘Panfilov’s 28’ in the Cinema of the
World category. The festival will also be attended by guests from the Russian
film fraternity like actress of ‘Light Up’ Inga Oboldina, producer of the
‘Closeness’ Nikolay Yankin, directors of ‘Panfilov’s 28’ Andrey Shalopa and Kim
Druzhinin and cameraman and IFFI jury member Vladislav Opelyants.
Founder
of Haztech, Mohsin Shaikh, recently created and launched the new IFFI official
app to be used by the delegates attending the festival. The purpose of the app
is to assist the delegates about the happenings of the festival. It will
consist of the festival schedule, festival related updates, venue details, IFFI
guide and helpdesk contact. The app will also help the user stay updated by
being connected to all social media accounts of the festival, making it easier
for the delegate to keep in touch with the happenings. The app is extremely
user friendly and offers the user information at the tips of their fingers.
