53rd edition of IFFI to kick off in Goa on Sunday, feature 280 films

The 53rd edition of the International Film Festival India, which begins in Goa on Sunday, will feature 280 films from 79 countries. The nine-day event will open with the Austrian film Alma and Oskar, directed by Dieter Berner.

The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Taleigao, but enthusiasts can also join the carnival virtually.

As part of The Indian Panorama, a flagship of IFFI, 25 feature films and 19 non-feature films from across the country have been selected to represent India’s rich culture and heritage. As part of its initiative to promote films from the Northeast of India, five feature and five non-feature films will be screened to mark the golden jubilee of Manipuri cinema.

The festival will also feature a special section for veteran actor Asha Parekh, winner of the 52nd Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, and three films starring her – Teesri Manzil, Do Badan, and Kati Patang – will be screened.

To celebrate cinematic excellence and contributions to film art, the spotlight this year will be on France — a nod to the influence of cinema from the country, especially of auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, and François Truffaut.

Eight contemporary French films, including the 2022 release Other People’s Children directed by Rebecca Zlotowski, The Velvet Queen by Marie Amiguet and Vincent Munier, and Nicole Pariser’s The Green Perfume will be screened.

To foster a community of young talent from across the country, the festival will host ‘75 creative minds of tomorrow’.

The jury for this programme includes lyricist and poet Prasoon Joshi, who is the current chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification, filmmaker R Balki, and Indian sound designer Resul Pookutty.

“The program is an amazing way to find and nurture young minds to look beyond the edge of the world and pursue their ambitions through cinema; to convey their own stories to effect good change & establish a better society. Most essential, a chance to take part in IFFI 2022, one of the most renowned film festivals in India,” Pookutty said.

The festival will also include master classes on the different processes of film making by experts in the field. Directors Advait Chandan and Shoojit Sircar will be in conversation with attendees on how ‘Filmmaking is team work’. Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui will host a talk on his journey as an actor. Others like actor Pankaj Tripathy and director Mark Osborne will also conduct master classes.

The festival will draw to a close with the Polish film Perfect Number, directed by Krzysztof Zanussi.