We are trying to capture the emerging narratives in cinema: IFFI director

The 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India begins in Goa today

The 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Asia’s oldest and India’s biggest, begins in Goa today (January 16-24). The cinematic celebration is taking place at a time when the film world everywhere, like many other industries, has been impacted by the pandemic. The festival, too, is seeing some changes this time round but the line-up remains exciting, IFFI Director Chaitanya Prasad tells Veenu Sandhu. Edited excerpts:

How has IFFI evolved since it was first held in 1952?
 

When IFFI’s journey began in 1952, 23 countries participated with over 200 film entries. The festival was first organised by the Films Division and at the inaugural edition, held in Mumbai, the United States participated with 40 feature films and about a hundred short films. In the following years, the festival was taken to many cities like Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata during which the non-competitive, vernacular filmotsavs merged with IFFI. It was in 2004 that IFFI was bought to Goa from Thiruvananthapuram. The edition was a success despite many doubts. With over 50 years of existence and over a decade in Goa, IFFI has grown massively.

What is the line-up this year?

The festival is held every year to appreciate and celebrate cinematic art for which exceptional and iconic films are picked to be screened during the event. Roughly, 224 films will be screened at IFFI: 43 in the Indian Panorama section (collection of regional movies), 23 feature films and 20 non-feature films, and the rest are world cinema. The festival will premier Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg’s "Another Round" as the opening film. And the historical drama, "Wife of a Spy", by Kiyoshi Kurosawa will bring this edition of IFFI to a close. The festival will also witness the world premiere of "Mehrunisa".

Given that we are still in the midst of a pandemic, what kind of planning was required this year?

I think Covid has given us an opportunity to reinvent ourselves as to how we function. We thought it would be difficult to get things moving in IFFI this year, but we are absolutely overwhelmed. The number of films that have come for Indian premiere, world premiere, international premier – it is great. We are taking into account all the possible protocols as far as viewing is concerned. This is for the first time that we are also going to conduct some events virtually, like masterclasses and in-conversation sessions.

The edition is being organised in a hybrid mode for the first time and will comprise both online and in-person experience.

What kind of participation will we see from the global film fraternity?
 

We are really excited by the kind of response that we have received in terms of the delegate registration and films that have come to us from different parts of the world (Portugal, France, Ireland, Chile, Iran, Ukraine, Lithuania, Brazil, Uruguay, to name some).
 

We are trying to get or capture the new narratives that have emerged in cinema today, whether it is storytelling, storytellers, new business models or the use of technology. Today, it is content versus technology, technology versus creativity, and creativity versus audience taste. And what we are looking at is a kind of a convergence model that is emerging. I think it is a very bold step as far as the international film circuit is concerned because we are trying to bring forth a balance between the virtual and the real.

In terms of movies, we haven't seen very many releases this last year. Will that reflect in the festival?

Initially, we did think that it may have an impact, but we have received overwhelming response from across the globe. Even though the number of releases went down, IFFI has received many entries.

What challenges did you face while organising the festival in this extraordinary time?
 

Taking into account the physical distancing protocol because of Covid-19, we've got everything in place. We have actually brought down the number of films to be screened in total. With the screening of 28 films per day, about 224 will be screened during the festival.