Panaji: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be inaugurating the 45th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here tomorrow, kicking off the 11-day cinematic extravaganza which will screen 178 foreign films in various categories. Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Minister of State for I&B, Rajyavardhan Rathore will be present at the function to be held at Dr Shamaprasad Mukherjee stadium in Taleigao village here.
Superstar Rajinikanth would be honoured with the special centenary award for his contribution to Indian cinema. The festival will open with Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf's film 'The President', about a dictator who comes face to face with the people he previously subjugated. Director of Film Festival, Shankar Mohan said in the run up to the festival, the organizers received 650 foreign film entries, which were screened by a preview committee that finally selected 178 best films from 79 countries. "We have sourced some brilliant films this time which won awards at Cannes, Berlin and other film festivals," the director said.
In what is a record of sorts, Mohan said, in this edition, 28 films which competed for the coveted Academy awards (Oscars) will be screened during the festival. The organizers have also drawn a list of 50 must-watch films, he added. The festival will have 20 international and 91 Indian premiers including some films which are showcased in the Indian Panorama section, the director said. 'Cinema of the World' section will screen 61 films.
In international cinema section, films by 12 masters will be screened, while the festival kaleidoscope will showcase 20 films. A special section on documentaries comprising six films is also the highlight of the festival, while in the 'Soul of Asia' section seven outstanding films have been selected for exhibition. The festival will also contain a section for films from South Asian countries including Pakistan, Mohan said, adding that six brilliant animation films have also been packaged to showcase the new trend for the delegates.
Besides, IFFI will pay homage to four internationally acclaimed filmmakers ? Robin Williams (USA), Richard Attenborough (UK), Gordon Willis (USA) and Alain Resnais (France), whose films would be screened during the festival. The event will also nostalgically visit the old era by exhibiting two films each of legendary filmmakers Charlie Chaplin and Francois Truffaut - in its Restored Classics section.
The festival has planned retrospective of films by Krzysztof Kieslowski (Poland), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Iran) and Jeon Soo-II (South Korea). Hong Kong's most celebrated filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai would be bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event, which has selected China as a focus country. Mohan said that 12 films from China would be showcased in the fest.
Indian Panorama section will open with Marathi film 'Elizabeth Ekadashi'. In all, 26 feature and 15 non feature films are selected for this section. The organisers have curated a package of cinema from North East which also includes retrospective of films by Jahnu Barua. The focus of the package is 'Tales of women as seen through cinema from North East'. The festival will also have films celebrating dance in Indian cinema, and retrospective of Gulzar's films as he won the Dadasaheb Phalke award 2013.
In the students' films section, films by students of FTII Pune, SRFTI Kolkata, Chennai film Institute and Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi, would be screened.
