16 Jan 2021  |   03:52am IST

IFFI21 : The staging itself is this year's showstopper

Frankly not many expected the first film festival on the world of this scale to be held and IFFI21 is already a success before its opening ceremony The film festival commences today and though being very low key, film lovers will have the opportunity to watch some of the best cinema produced in the recent past and in the years past.

The 51^st International Film Festival of India will commence today with Prakash Javadekar, Union minister of environment, forest and climate change and minister of information and broadcasting and Sudeep Superstar in Kannada cinema gracing the occasion as chief guests. This was revealed by Goa CM Pramod Sawant yesterday at a press conference.

On the opening night the noted Italian cinematographer Vittoria Storaro will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.  Storaro is best known for his work in the films like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage , The Conformist , Last Tango in Paris , 1900 , Apocalypse Now , Reds , The Last Emperor  and Dick Tracy to name a few. He has received three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography for the films Apocalypse Now , Reds  and The Last Emperor and is one of three living persons who has won the award three times.

This year films from 60 countries will be showcased and 119 films will be screened. Unlike previous years there will be no outdoor shows this year due to the precautions taken to combat the virus.  

The festival this year will be a hybrid affair with films being shown in theatres as well online. Due to the virus and the commencement of film shootings, there will not be any major Bollywood actor or actress making their presence felt. However sources revealed Vidya Balan and Anil Kapoor will send their wishes in a video message that will be telecast during the inauguration. During the course of the festival other stars will be sending in video messages. Bangladesh will be the country in focus with movies from its film industry being showcased.  

The Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant said the festival would follow the precautions set to combat the virus strictly. The four auditoriums at Inox will welcome only 920 guests though they are capable of seating well over a thousand.    

 

Amit Satija CEO ESG speaking on the occasion said if people were interested in watching movies online and offline, they would have to pay the fees for both the platforms separately. According to the latest figures, around 2500 film lovers have registered and around 1456 have confirmed.  

This year the festival will pay homage to film stalwarts who passed away. Chadwick Boseman will be remembered with 42 being screened. Sir Alan Parker’s Midnight Express which showcases the harrowing conditions in Turkey’s jails, Kirk Douglas in Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, maestro Ennio Morricone’s music in the Hateful Eight by Quentin Tarantino and of course the beautiful Olivia De Havilland in The Heiress by William Wyler.

Indian icons like Basu Chatterjee with Chhoti Si Baat, Ajit Das in Tara by Bijaya Jena, Bhanu Athaiya’s work in Gandhi by Richard Attenbourough, Irrfan Khan in Paan Singh Tomar by Tigmanshu Dhulia, Jagdeep in Brahmachari, Rishi Kapoor in Bobby by Raj Kapoor to name a few.

One can only hope the festival passes off with without incident and everyone enjoys the magic of the moving image.