TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Nearly 325 Indian and foreign films will be screened with participation of around 74 countries in the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2013, ten-day long festival scheduled to be held from November 20. The festival, which nearly doubled its capacity for delegates last year, has developed an appetite for 15,000 delegates this year.
Speaking to mediapersons on Sunday, Director of Directorate of Film Festival (DFF) Shankar Mohan said that the 44th edition of the festival would see participation of more films and countries and so as the delegates, further making IFFI as one of the most preferred festival by the film lovers across the world.
Mohan said that of the total 325 films, 180 foreign films would be screened while the rest would be Indian films.
Though the DFF Director claims that the number of films to be screened this year has increased, the IFFI website indicates that total 331 films were screened for IFFI 2012 edition.
The DFF director along with his team is in Goa to take stock of IFFI preparations. Mohan along with Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) vice chairman Vishnu Wagh flagged off the IFFI road show this morning, thus beginning the festival countdown.
Last year, 65 countries participated and the number has gone up to 74 this year, Mohan said. Further, he said that the number of delegates registered till date is over 7,000 and the organizers expect the same to go up to 15,000.
“This is the only mega film festival in India, which registers highest number of delegates. Last year, by this time the registration was around 5,000. People wait till last few days to get themselves registered. This year it will be around 15,000,” Mohan said. Last year total delegate registration for the festival was 8,000.
The festival will begin in presence of legendary singer Asha Bhosle, actress Rekha, actor-filmmaker Kamal Hassan and veteran actor Manoj Kumar.
Academy Award-winning Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon would be the chief guest for the opening ceremony while actress Michelle Yeoh would be the chief guest for the closing ceremony of the festival, Mohan announced.
The event will also have a specially curated section focusing on films from the northeastern region, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Wagh said that the IFFI preparations are almost complete. He said that with launching of this road show, the countdown for IFFI has begun. The road show will move across the State, with major focus on tourist places, Wagh said.
