Goa, 19 November 2023
Setting alight the shores of Goa with the 54th International Film Festival of India (IIFI), an annual cinematic extravaganza – Home to the best of World and Indian Cinema is all set to begin tomorrow at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Panaji, Goa with a gala opening ceremony.
The nine day festival, showcasing an eclectic array of world cinema to audiences worldwide, will kick start with the international premiere of Catching Dust, the mind catching drama thriller by award-winning British filmmaker Stuart Gatt. About Dry Grasses directed by French Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan will be the Mid fest film and The Featherweight directed by Robert Kolodny is the closing film for IFFI 54.
Hollywood actor-producer Michael Douglas will receive the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award. With over 50 years in the film and television industry, Michael Douglas has received 2 Oscars, 5 Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and countless other honors.
The Opening Ceremony will showcase performances by superstars Madhuri Dixit and Shahid Kapoor along with Shriya Saran, Nushratt Bharucha, Pankaj Tripathi, Shantanu Moitra, Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhwinder Singh. The Festival would be graced by Catherine Zeta Jones, Salman Khan, Vidya Balan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Anupam Kher, Vicky Kaushal, Siddharth Malhotra, Aditi Rao Hydari, AR Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal, Shantanu Moitra, Sukhwinder Singh, Amit Trivedi, among celebrated filmmakers.
Conveying his wishes to the film festival, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Anurag Thakur, in a message said that in an age where technology continues to reshape the way we consume content, film festivals remain a testament to the enduring appeal of cinematic experience. He said, ‘’IFFI has become a perfect platform for establishing collaborations, joint productions and cutting – edge technology and IFFI has been growing every year due to the passion of our film makers and collaborations with directors and film makers’’.
This year, more than 270 films will be showcased at 4 venues of the festival. IFFI has received an overwhelming response this year with 2926 entries from 105 countries, three times more international submissions than last year. This year, the festival will have 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres, 62 Asia and 89 India Premieres. 32 entries have been received in 10 languages from 15 OTT platforms for Best Web Series (OTT) Award. 15 feature films (12 International films and 3 Indian films) will compete for the coveted Golden Peacock award.
A Docu-Montage section featuring a mosaic of compelling documentaries from around the world has also been introduced this year to mark India’s Oscar entry in the field and also to highlight the growing importance of documentaries in film making today. Seven International films and three Indian films that reflect the ideals of UNESCO will be featured in ICFT UNESCO Gandhi medal award session.
As a testament to its commitment to nurturing emerging talent, IFFI will also host masterclasses, workshops, and panel discussions conducted by renowned industry stalwarts. This year the 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow (CMOT) candidates will also have professional classes especially curated by the masters of cinema and a Talent Camp for recruitment will be organised with more than 20 leading companies.
Started last year, the Gala Premiers initiative is being expanded this year also with 12 gala premiers and 2 exclusive web series premiers. These film premiers at IFFI would have their actors and talent walk the red carpet of IFFI to promote their films.
The 17th Edition of the NFDC Film Bazaar will have expanded scope of its verticals with a VFX & Tech Pavilion, introduction of Documentary & Non-Feature Projects/Films, the Knowledge Series and Book to Box Office. Apart from this, also introduced is a Restored Classics section featuring seven world premieres of the world class restorations done by NFDC-NFAI under the National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM) from the damaged celluloid reels of the Indian Classics. Further, there will be three international restored films also being showcased in this section.
An exhibition with immersive visual content has also been set up by the Central Bureau of Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India which will allow cine enthusiasts to learn about films through interactive displays. Entry is free for all. Open Air Screenings will also be held for the public at three locations along with initiatives such as Caravans, Shigmotsav, Goa Carnival, Selfie points, IFFI Merchandise and others to enhance the IFFI as one of the biggest cultural extravaganza of India for the world.
Press Information Bureau will issue Press Releases in English, Hindi, and regional languages on all the events related to the festival. PIB will also issue press releases in Konkani language to cater to the local media, for the first time. PIB Social Media team will do live streaming of Press Conferences and other events, posting live updates on its social media handles. PIB has also set up a Media Facilitation Centre at the venue for providing required support to the media.
In order to make the film festival more inclusive and accessible, the 54th IFFI has made arrangements to ensure that specially-abled festival delegates can access all the screening and other venues. There will be films with embedded audio for visually impaired and embedded Sign Language. Many Indian Panorama Films can be watched this time along with dubbing in the preferred language, using their smartphone and earphones. IFFI has partnered with Cinedubs App for the multilanguage dubbing.
At the closing ceremony, several awards and special honours will be presented for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Male) and (Female), Special Jury Award, Best Web Series on an OTT Platform, Indian Film Personality of the Year and ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal.
The opening ceremony will be telecast partially LIVE on Doordarshan. Viacom Media Pvt. Ltd. is the exclusive media and broadcasting partner for cultural performances at the opening and closing ceremonies and would broadcast the ceremonies on COLORS TV channel and its OTT platform JioCinema.
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PIB IFFI Team / PPG/NT/LP/ LP/ NR/BN/DR
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