IFFI 2019: Indian Panorama opens with screening of 'Hellaro' and 'Nooreh'

The 50th International Film Festival of India, 2019 began in Goa on Wednesday with a big bang. After the opening ceremony, the Indian Panorama section was inaugurated at INOX here on Thursday.

The section was inaugurated in the presence of the Amit Khare, Secretary of Information and Broadcasting, along with the cast and crew of the opening films.

The gala commenced with the National Award-winning Gujarati film 'Hellaro'. The flick is being showcased under the feature film category along with a Kashmiri film 'Nooreh,' which was nominated in the non-feature film category. Both the movies have been helmed by Abhishek Shah.

Talking about his film 'Nooreh,' filmmaker Ashish Pandey said, it narrates the story of a "small girl who still hopes for a better life".

He added that he wished to make a film which is relevant in current time. Pandey also thanked the IFFI Jury for selecting his film for Indian Panorama.

The Indian Panorama section is to showcase the best of contemporary Indian cinema. Altogether 26 feature films and 15 non-feature films will be screened under the section this year.

Apart from Hindi, the Indian Panorama feature film section this year will also feature films of four lesser spoken languages, including Khasi or Garo, Paniya, Irula and Pangchenpa.

The other selections in the feature film category include five Marathi films -- 'Tujhya Aaila,' 'Anandi Gopal,' 'Bhonga,' 'Mai Ghat' and 'Photo-Prem' -- three each in Malayalam and Bengali, two Tamil and one Kannada film.

The feature film category will also have a sub-section on mainstream cinema, under which popular films like 'Gully Boy,' 'Uri: The Surgical Strike,' 'Super 30' and 'Badhaai Ho' will be screened. Telugu film 'F2' will also be screened under this category.