Films for Festival Kaleidoscope announced

Team DCF | Panjim

The 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on 1 November 2019 announced the list of films to be screened in one of the most important sections of the festival, Festival Kaleidoscope. Every year films from across the world make their mark in the minds of the festival audience. The outstanding calibre in terms of their craft, unique content and brilliance in film-making never goes unnoticed. Some of the films that have already generated a lot of buzz in international circuits are Parasite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Synonyms and more.

This section will bring under one umbrella exotic films for film aficionados who will flock the festival at Goa. Festival Kaleidoscope will showcase 20 films, handpicked and curated from different parts of the world, which have already generated a positive buzz globally in various film festivals. The Palme d’Or, the top prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival, Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho will have its India premiere at IFFI 2019.

Other films in the section include:
- Venice Film Festival Horizon Award Best Actor winner “A Son” by Mehdi Barsaoui
- India Premiere of “And Then We Danced” by Levan Akin which had won 9 international awards
- Cannes Jury Prize winner “Bacurau” co-directed by Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho with 9 international awards
- India Premiere of Locarno Film Festival winner “Echo” by Rúnar Rúnarsson
- India Premiere of Silver Berlin Bear Best Director winner “I was at Home, But” by Angela Schanelec
- India Premiere of “La belle époque” by Nicolas Bedos
- India Premiere of “Lara” by Jan Ole Gerster
- Cannes Best Actress winner “Little Joe” by Jessica Hausner
- India Premiere of Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe Best Director winner “Patrick” by Tim Mielants
- India Premiere of Silver Berlin Bear Best Screenplay winner “Piranhas” by Claudio Giovannesi
- India Premiere of Cannes Best Screenplay winner “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” by Céline Sciamma
- Sundance Film Festival Audience award winner with 9 international awards “Queen of Hearts” by May el-Toukhy
- India Premiere of Berlin Silver Bear Best Actor and Actress winner “So Long My Son” by Xiaoshuai Wang
- India Premiere of Serbian film “Stitches” with 10 international awards directed by Miroslav Terzic
- Golden Berlin Bear Best Film winner “Synonyms” by Nadav Lapid
- Most sought after film of the year “System Crasher” with 10 international awards by Nora Fingscheidt
- Tremors by Jayro Bustamante
- India Premiere of Crystal Globe Best Film winner at Karlovy Vary Film Festival “The Father” by - Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
- India Premiere of Venice FIPRESCI Prize winner “Blanco en blanco” directed by Théo Court

International Film Festival of India (IFFI)), considered one of the earliest film festivals in Asia, completes 50 this year. The golden jubilee edition will witness more than 200 best films from 76 countries, 26 feature films and 15 non-feature films in the Indian Panorama Section and more than 10,000 people and film lovers. To commemorate the glorious fifty-year journey, the festival will also showcase 12 prominent films in different languages that have completed 50 years in 2019.

#IFFI2019 #IFFIGoa #IFFI50 #IFFIAt50

Master Film-makers to Showcase Works

Team DCF | Panjim

The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has been a platform for new and old cinematic talents from all over the world. This year celebrates the golden jubilee of IFFI's illustrious journey. Keeping up with the tradition, the section for Master Film-makers, titled Master Frames, has been curated to showcase world films like its previous editions.

The section has 17 films by filmmakers of international repute like Pedro Almodovar, Lav Diaz, Xavier Dolan, Dardenne Brothers, Costa Gavras, Wernor Herzog, Hirokazu Koreeda, Fatih Akin and more.

The films in this category are:
About Endlessness by Roy Andersson
Adults in the Room by Costa Gavras
By The Grace Of God by Francois Ozon
Commitment by Semih Kaplanoglu
Daniel by Niels Arden Oplev
Devil Between The Legs by Arturo Ripstein
Family Romance LLC by Werner Herzog
Guest Of Honor by Lifetime Achievement Award Winner of IFFI 2017 Atom Egoyan
Matthias & Maxime by Xavier Dolan
Mr. Jones by Agniezka Holland
Pain And Glory by Pedro Almodovar
The Golden Glove by Fatih Akin
The Halt by Lav Diaz
The Truth by Hirokazu Koreeda
The Weasel’s Tale by Juan José Campanella
Young Ahmed by Dardenne Brothers

The 50th edition of IFFI will hold the world premiere of Turkish Master Semih Kaplanoglu’s film Commitment - the Oscar entry from Turkey this year. Most films in this section are premiering for the first time in India since their completion of production and is a matter of great pride for IFFI.

IFFI proudly showcases films and their makers to the large number of film enthusiasts especially from the Indian subcontinent who flock the festival every year, hoping to catch a glimpse of world cinema.

International Film Festival of India (IFFI)), considered one of the earliest film festivals in Asia, completes 50 this year. The golden jubilee edition will witness more than 200 best films from 76 countries, 26 feature films and 15 non-feature films in the Indian Panorama Section and more than 10,000 people and film lovers. To commemorate the glorious fifty-year journey, the festival will also showcase 12 prominent films in different languages that have completed 50 years in 2019.

#IFFI2019 #IFFIGoa #IFFI50 #IFFIAt50

IFFI 2019 to focus on Asian films

Team DCF | Panjim

The 50th year of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), considered one of the oldest in Asia, will be presenting a specially-curated section for new and dynamic films from Asian countries and film-makers. Keeping this spirit in mind, the section has been named the Soul of Asia.

Films to be showcased in this section include Chinese films - 'Feelings to Tell' by Wen Li, 'Summer is the Coldest Season' by Sun Zhou, 'The Fourth Wall' co-directed by Zhang Chong and Bo Zhang; Japanese film 'Ten Years Japan'; Taiwanese film 'Ten Years Taiwan'; 'The Other Half' directed by Lalith Rathnayake from Sri Lanka and 'Wet Season' directed by Anthony Chen co-produced by Singapore and Taiwan.

Among these films, 'Ten Years Japan' and 'Ten Years Taiwan' are omnibus films which started with the Ten Years series in 2015. These films reflect how young directors from their respective countries envision their immediate surroundings in a decade’s time, wonderfully depicting the dark times ahead.

Through this section, the films will celebrate the bold and dynamic efforts in film-making from various Asian countries. The 50th IFFI will honour these film-makers on its platform which serves as a bridge between films and audiences from around the world and also open new vistas in terms of cinephilia.

International Film Festival of India (IFFI)), considered one of the earliest film festivals in Asia, completes 50 this year. The golden jubilee edition will witness more than 200 best films from 76 countries, 26 feature films and 15 non-feature films in the Indian Panorama Section and more than 10,000 people and film lovers. To commemorate the glorious fifty-year journey, the festival will also showcase 12 prominent films in different languages that have completed 50 years in 2019.

#IFFI2019 #IFFIGoa #IFFI50 #IFFIAt50

Public screenings at IFFI announced

Team DCF | Delhi

The 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) announced the list of films for its Open Air Screening section. Every year IFFI organises open-air screenings to bring the best of cinematic experience to the cine enthusiasts.

The theme of the Open Air Screening section this year is 'The Joy of Cinema’. Select movies from the comedy (including classic comedies of all time), other related genres and the Indian Panorama section will be screened for the audience.

This year, the screenings will be organised at two venues, Joggers Park (Altinho, Panjim) and Miramar Beach, Panjim from 21 November to 27 November 2019. Jogger’s Park will screen movies from the comedy and related genres whereas Miramar Beach will screen select movies of the Indian Panorama section. These screenings will be open to everyone with free entry and will not require any registration.

The list of movies to be screened at Jogger’s Park, Altinho:
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
Padosan (1968)
Andaz Apna Apna (1994)
Hera Pheri (2000)
Chennai Express (2013)
Badhaai Ho (2018)
Total Dhamaal (2019)

The list of movies to be screened at Miramar Beach:
Nachom-ia Kumpasar (Konkani)
Super 30 (Hindi)
Anandi Gopal (Marathi)
Uri : The Surgical Strike (Hindi)
Hellaro (Gujarati)
Gully Boy (Hindi)
F2 – Fun and Frustration (Telugu)

Film industry set to witness changes

Team DCF | Mumbai

The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Prakash Javadekar unveiled the new logo and certificate design of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on 31 August 2019 as part of a special interaction between the Indian film industry and CBFC board members. The event was organised by the CBFC in Mumbai and in attendance were Kangana Ranaut, Satish Kaushik, Madhur Bhandarkar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Boney Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sanjay Khan, Ramesh Sippy, Anupama Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Kunal Kohli, Prahlad Kakkar, Kiran Shantaram, Sudhir Mishra, Atul Kasbekar, Vidya Balan and Siddharth Roy Kapur from the film fraternity. Also present were I&B Secretary Amit Khare and CBFC Chairman Prasoon Joshi.

Addressing the guests, Chief Guest Prakash Javadekar said the introduction of QR code in the new certificate design is in sync with the ever-changing digital world and it s step towards greater transparency and providing richer information to film-makers. The Minister also congratulated CBFC for the efficient discharge of its functions. Mr Javadekar added, "When cable television and later DTH were introduced, people never imagined that prices of TV channels could be so low but it will soon happen after the TRAI order. These days due to social media, with just one or two shows, it becomes clear whether a film will succeed or not."

Noting the importance of entertainment in present-day life, the Minister made an appeal to all television producers to use technology for the visually-impaired people so they understand films better. He said, "Such technology can be used at a cost of 1 or 2 lakh rupees per film. Similarly, private news channels should also try to bring out at least one bulletin per week for deaf people."

Speaking about the upcoming golden jubilee edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, Mr Javadekar said, "IFFI this year will be very special. The theme of IFFI 2019 is Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and the opening and closing ceremonies will reflect the theme. I appeal everyone to come and attend. The honourable Prime Minister has said film is an industry too and we are trying to have a Film Business Summit which will look into the business aspect of films. Film Bazaar is also planned to be organized in Mumbai to look into business promotion, technology diffusion and export promotion."

The government is now amending the Cinematograph Act, after changing the Copyright Act, to curb piracy and protect rights of artists. The Minister invited suggestions and recommendations from the audience and other stakeholders regarding certification and regulation of online content.

Commenting on the new design of the CBFC certificate, CBFC Chariman Prasoon Joshi stated, "I believe the design should reflect the contemporary digital world and leverage the ease that technology has brought in our work processes. The design change is not cosmetic, it is extremely functional and underlines the CBFC’s positive value-added approach."

Mr Joshi highlighted the various initiatives taken by CBFC during the last few years for the benefit of the film industry. He said that the Board has been playing an active and positive role in taking forward the issues of the industry by bringing in greater transparency and smoother processes. Today, film-makers can find every detail about any film on the CBFC website. The Animal Welfare Board of India issues have been simplified. Consultative approach has resulted in a more collaborative process. He said, "if we are anchored in collective human good, there is no way we will not be able to find solutions through a dialogic approach." Mr Joshi was extremely appreciative of his Board members who have been instrumental in taking this forward. The board comprises Narendra Kohli, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Naresh Chander Lal, Neil Herbert Nongkynrih, Vidya Balan, Waman Kendre, Vivek Agnihotri, Gautami Tadimalla, T S Nagabharana, Jeevitha Rajasekhar, Ramesh Patange and Mihir Bhuta.

Speaking about the evolution of art, Mr Joshi quipped, "art used to be participative and built on the idea of cocreation. However, condescension entered into the field later with the performer being active and the audience passive. Technology has now introduced a new reality of active performer and active audience, giving voice to the people. When art goes out, the intent of the artist is sometimes not understood, due to different vantage points of people and this necessitates some extra effort to make oneself understood."

Talking about culture the Chairman said, "cultural symbols such as language are part of the collective subconscious and their choice can only be decided collectively. Trust between the audience and creative people is paramount. If trust in artists is lost, it will have a harmful effect on our world. There can only be dialogue, not diktat, when it comes to cultural expression and this is the approach adopted by the CBFC. It is important to listen to the murmurs in society to be sensitive to the disadvantaged." He also highlighted the need to educate citizens about the meaning of various film ratings. 

The new design is futuristic in its approach and in sync with the fast-evolving digital world. It is also interactive in its design sensibility where by scanning the QR code, more information on the certificate can be obtained online. Prasoon Joshi himself has conceptualised the new look of the certificate, designed by Rohit Devgun with technical support from NSDL.

On the occasion CBFC Mumbai Regional Officer Tushar Karmakar presented an overview of the recent activities, initiatives and achievements of the board such as E-Cinepramaan - the online film certification system of CBFC - initiated by the-then I&B Minister in March 2017 to promote transparency and ease of doing business. Frequent meetings with members of the industry at different forums and creating opportunities for the film fraternity and the government representatives to meet and interact is also a step in this direction. He stated the Board's approach has led to improved mutual understanding and appreciation by the film fraternity.