'After Images' to open IFFI 2016

Late Polish director Andrzej Wajda's "After Images" -- a biopic based on the life of late Polish painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski -- will kick off the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu announced here on Tuesday.

The festival, which will run from November 20-28, will have the Republic of Korea as the country in focus.

South Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon's "The Age of Shadows", which is the country's official entry for the Oscars next year, will bring the curtains down on the festival.

Renowned Korean filmmaker Kwon Taek Im, director of award-winning films like "Chihwaseon", "Gilsoddeum", "Chunhyang" and "Seopyeonje", will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival this year.

A special tribute will be paid to late Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda and late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, both of who passed away earlier this year.

Special homage will be paid to actor-singer Kalabhan Mani, actress Kalpana, Sadhana Shivdasani and Paramesh Krishnan Nair.

Out of 1032 entries from across the globe, IFFI 2016 will screen 194 films from 88 countries. The festival will recognise young talent under a new competition section, Centenary Award for Best Debut Feature of a Director. The section will showcase some of the outstanding directorial debuts of 2016 from across the world, the winner of which will get a Silver Peacock and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.

National Award-winning filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony.

Veteran singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam will be felicitated with the Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the year.

IFFI 2016, in collaboration with the International Council for Film and Television, Audiovisual Communication (ICFT) Paris and Unesco, will also confer a a ICFT-Unesco Gandhi Medal to a film which will reflect the ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence.

Under the International Competition section, awards will be given for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor - Male, Best Actor - Female and Special Jury Award.

The international jury for IFFI 2016 has Czech-born US writer-director Ivan Passer as the chairperson accompanied by Britain's cinematographer-director Larry Smith, Croatia's writer-director Lordan Zafranovic, Indian filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor and Morocco's director-writer Leilda Kilani as jury members.

The festival will also showcase four world premieres and six international premieres which will be part of 10 gala screenings.

This year, the festival will also showcase a special package of 20 award winning short films based on the Swachh Bharat theme. The films are shortlisted from 4345 entries and were awarded at the Swachh Bharat Film Festival.

The festival also includes 26 Asian and 108 Indian premieres in the International Cinema section.

--IANS

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