IFFI is back and if one has to go by the design of the
almost-done props and installations and the overall vibe, it is looking much
better than the 2014 edition. For those who are not clued in to what’s
happening this year at IFFI, veteran film actor Anil Kapoor will be Chief Guest
for the inaugural event which will showcase 187 films from 89 countries. The
festival will open with a film based on the life of Indian mathematician
Srinivasa Ramanujan, ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’, written and directed by
Matthew Brown, and will close with a Spanish film, ‘The Clan’ directed by Pablo
Trapero. Check out the following highlights to know exactly what’s happening at
IFFI 2015.
Indian Panorama
The section will have a confluence of 26 remarkable films
from different languages and states out which eight films will be from Bengal.
Sanskrit film ‘Priyamanasam’ directed by Vinod Mankara has been chosen as the
Opening Film in the Indian Panorama section. Salman Khan's ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’,
Cannes FIPRESCI winner ‘Masaan’, India's Oscar entry ‘Court’ and Goa’s very own
‘Nachom-ia Kumpasar’ are some of the other films in the Indian Panorama
section.
Special Focus
The festival will have a special Focus on North East Cinema
and will showcase the best of films and filmmakers from the region to the
world. The section will have a Special Retrospective on Aribam Syam Sharma, the
eminent filmmaker, actor and music composer from Manipur along with a unique
segment featuring the next generation film-maker from the North East.
Retrospective
IFFI will be screening eight films of veteran
actor-filmmaker Shashi Kapoor under its special Retrospective section. His
masterpiece film ‘Junoon’ will inaugurate the section at the forthcoming film
festival. ‘Junoon’ (1978) will be screened as the opening film of special
Retrospective Section followed by ‘New Delhi Times’ (1986), ‘Utsav’ (1984), ‘In
Custody’ (Muhafiz) (1993), ‘Kalyug’ (1981), ‘Deewar’ (1975), ‘Shakespearwallah’
(1965) and ‘The Householder’ (1963). However, it will be a bummer to not have
the veteran actor here in Goa due to poor health conditions, as clarified by
his son Kunal Kapoor in an official statement.
Country Focus
This year, IFFI will have Spain as the country focus for the
festival with best of the films from the country to be presented throughout the
festival. In the country focus section, the organisers have lined up the best
of Spanish cinema ranging from master filmmakers like Carlos Saura and Pedro Almadovar
to the young and enthusiastic director Alejandro Amenabar. The section will
also feature Leticia Dolera’s debut film 'Requirements To Be A Normal Person'.
International
Competition
IFFI 2015 will be screening 15 best films from world-class
filmmakers in the International Competition Section. Kaushik Ganguly’s
‘Cinemawala’ and Debesh Chatterjee’s ‘Natoker Moto’ are the two Indian Films
selected in this section. The section is so popular amongst the world film
fraternity that this year it has attracted films and filmmakers from
unconventional film regions like Argentina, Venezuela, Serbia, Bolivia and
Jordan, among others.
Special Tribute and
Contemporary Argentinian Cinema
IFFI 2015 will see a tribute being paid through an exclusive
section, to French film actress and film producer Anna Karina. Anna Karina's
1965 films 'Alphaville' and 'Pierrot Le Fou' and 1962 movie 'To Live Her Life:
A Film in Twelve Scenes' will be screened at the festival. Anna Karina was a
Danish-French film actress, director and screenwriter, who worked in France
through her career. Karina won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film
Festival in 1961 for her interpretation of the character Angela in the film 'A
Woman Is a Woman'. In 1972, she set up a production company named Raska for her
film-directing debut 'Vivre Ensemble', in which she also acted.
IFFI 2015 will also have a contemporary Argentinian cinema
section. The section on contemporary Argentinian cinema will see six films
being screened.
New additions
IFFI 2015 will also screen some of the
outstanding directorial debuts of 2015 in a newly introduced segment - ‘First
Cut’. The section would feature emerging filmmakers including Brian Perkins
(‘Golden Kingdom’, USA), Michael Klette (‘Solness’, Germany) and Piotr Chrzan
(‘Moskvich-My Love’, Poland) among others. Also, in a special series titled ‘In
Conversation’, the Indian filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Vettrimaran, Kaushik
Ganguli and Anand L Rai will be present to discuss films and the art of
filmmaking with the audience. Additionally, IFFI 2015 will feature a special
section ‘World Cinema Restored Classics’ to highlight the idea of film
restoration. The Film festival will also feature a package of classics to put
spotlight on National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM).