PANJIM: The 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was inaugurated on Saturday with 624 films from 96 countries set to be screened over the week.
The inauguration was marked by the presence of several political bigwigs as well as members of the Hindi film industry. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur said the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” was an opportunity for everyone to take a collective resolve to take the nation to new heights when the country celebrates 100 years of our freedom.
“This presents a unique opportunity for Indian cinema and incredible possibilities in content creation and dissemination at all levels on all platforms, in all regional languages, domestically as well as globally,” he said.
The Union Minister expressed the government’s interest in making the country a content creation powerhouse and the post-production hub of the world.
He said, “We aim to make India a powerhouse of content creation, especially regional by scaling up regional festivals. We are also steadfast in our efforts to make India the post production hub of the world, by leveraging the immense tech talent amongst our skilled youth. We aim to make India the hub for world cinema – a destination for films and festivals and the most favoured place for filmmakers and lovers.”
Stating that 75 young aspiring filmmakers have been handpicked from across the country to attend the IFFI as special guests, Thakur said, “For the first time ever, we are recognising and mentoring promising 75 young minds, as we celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence. The youngest candidate is just 16 years old and that the list of 75 budding artistes includes many who have been selected from various small towns and cities of India.”
Thakur said, “India could captivate the world by narrating the India story – the story of rising, powerful and vibrant billion ready to lead the world the India way.”
The minister said the country was poised to be at the epicentre of the cinematic ecosystem. “Today the India story is being written and defined by Indians,” he said.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant thanked former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar for bringing the film festival to Goa and making it the home for this event.
He said, “The festival was growing every year and the State now had a single window clearance for film shootings.” He hoped to have a film city which would have a film institute to train the talent that was present in the State.
The event was hosted by Karan Johar and Maniesh Paul. Also present were film stars Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Shraddha Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia Deshmukh, amongst others.
Hema Malini was presented the Indian Film Personality of the year 2021 along with lyricist and Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Prasoon Joshi. Acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorsese and Hungarian filmmaker Istevan Szabo was conferred the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award.
The opening film of the festival was “King of the World”, a Mexican Spanish co-production.
