49th IFFI to showcase 212 films, Israel in focus

The 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), to be held in Goa from November 20-28, will showcase 212 films from over 68 countries, reflecting diversity. Israel will be the country of focus at the gala, where there will be a retrospective section of Ingmar Bergman, marking 100 years of the filmmaker's birth.

The International Competition section of IFFI this year has 15 films, out of which 3 are Indian. The competition section represents films produced and co-produced by 22 countries, according to a PIB statement.

The Festival Kaleidoscope section carries 20 critically acclaimed international films that have been to major film festivals and majority of them being multiple award winners, while the World Panorama segment has 67 films which are specially curated for the festival. This includes 4 World Premieres, 2 International Premieres, 15 Asia Premieres and 60 India Premieres.

Also, this year the World Panorama section presents 15 films which are Oscar submissions from respective countries.

Bergman's retrospective section will have a line-up of seven of his career-best films. A documentary on Bergman titled "Bergman Island", which presents the master behind the camera, is one of the movies.

A retrospective of films of the recipient of the most prestigious film award of the Country, Dadasaheb Phalke Award is showcased during IFFI. This year, actor Vinod Khanna received the award posthumously. IFFI will be showcasing some of his best films including "Achanak", "Lekin" and "Amar Akbar Anthony".

IFFI will open with the World Premiere of "The Aspern Papers", which tells a story of obsession, grandeur lost and dreams of Byronic adventures. Its star cast, including actors Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Joely Richardson, Julia Robins, Morgane Polanski and Nicolas Hau, apart from director Julien Landais will be a part of the delegation at the gala.

As for the focus country package, ten films in collaboration with the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai have been selected for the country focus package. Important celebrities from Israel including the famous Israeli actor Alon Aboutboul, will be a special guest. Actor Dan Wolman from Israel will be honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award.

A state focus section has been proposed for the 49th IFFI, 2018, and Jharkhand is the chosen one this time. Movies in the Jharkhand package include titles like "Death in the Gunj", "Ranchi Diaries" and "Begum Jaan".

The International Competition jury comprises John Irvin, Adrian Sitaru, Polish Director Robert Glinski, Anna Ferraioli Ravel and Indian member Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

The Indian Panorama section will have 26 feature and 21 non-feature Indian chosen by the jury. Shaji N. Karun's "Olu" will be the opening feature film of the segment, while "Kharvas" directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale will be the opening non-feature film of Indian Panorama 2018.

At IFFI this time, the 'Homages' section will pay tributes to Shashi Kapoor, Sridevi, M. Karunanidhi and Kalpana Lajmi from India, and to Terence Marsh, Milos Forman and Anne V Coates from the foreign world.

Masterclasses and In-conversation section will feature celebrities like Prasoon Joshi, Dan Wolman, Sreekar Prasad, Anil Kapoor, Sumit Israni, Boney Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Jahnvi Kapoor, David Dhawan, Varun Dhawan, Rohit Dhawan, Jairaj, Kaushik Ganguly, Shaji N. Karun, Srijit Mukhrjee, Sridhar and Sriram Raghavan, Meghna Gulzar, Leena Yadav and Gauri Shinde.

Making inclusivity count, there will be a special package for visually impaired children with screenings which shall have audio description. "Sholay" and "Hichki" will be showcased under this section.

--IANS

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