PANJIM: The 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will present film delegates a potpourri of 280 films, inviting them to immerse themselves in the lives, aspirations and struggles of peoples from a total of 79 countries.
With the festival preparations being in full swing, Festival Director and Managing Director of NFDC Ravinder Bhakar; ESG chief executive officer Swetika Sachan; Director General of PIB Monideep Mukerjee and Additional Director General of PIB Pragya Paliwal Gaur addressed a curtain-raiser press conference at the Old GMC Building, Panaji on Thursday.
The Austrian film, ‘Alma and Oskar’, directed by Dieter Berner, will open the festival on Sunday, November 20. Red Carpet for opening film will commence at 2 pm at INOX-I, Panjim, followed by the screening of the film.
Polish film Krzysztof Zanussi’s ‘Perfect Number’ is the closing film. Red Carpet for closing film will commence at INOX-I, Panjim at 2 pm on November 28, followed by the screening of the film. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at Dr Shyama Prasada Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Taleigao.
‘Fixation’, a 2022 film set in Germany, Canada and the USA, by Mercedes Bryce Morgan will be the mid-fest film.
A total of 25 feature films and 19 non-feature films from India will be showcased in the ‘Indian Panorama’ while, 183 films will be a part of international programming.
The festival presents a special section for Asha Parekh, the 52nd Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, with the screening of her three films — Teesri Manzil, Do Badan and Kati Patang.
On the occasion of completion of 50 years of Manipuri cinema, a specially curated package of five feature and five non-feature films curated by Manipur State Films Film Development Society, will be screened under Indian Panorama.
As an initiative to promote films from North-East India, five feature and five non-feature films, will mark golden jubilee of Manipuri cinema.
