49th International Film Festival of India begins today in Goa

The 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will begin today at Panaji in Goa. The opening ceremony will be held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Bambolim. 

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore and film star Akshay Kumar will be among host of celebrities present on the occasion. IFFI Director Chaitanya Prasad said, the opening ceremony will focus on new India and different genres of cinema.

                            

The 9-day event will showcase 212 films from 68 countries. While The Aspern Papers is the opening film, Sealed Lips will be the closing movie. 

Indian Panorama will showcase 26 feature films and 21 non-feature films. Shaji Karun directed Malayalam movie Olu will be the opening movie of the feature film section of Indian panorama.While Israel is the focus country, Jharkhand is the focus state this year. 

Veteran Israeli filmmaker Dan Wolman will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award.This year’s



IFFI will showcase six Indian sports biopics as an extension of Khelo India initiative. 

These are Gold, Mary Kom, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, 1983, MSD: The untold story and Soorma. The sports biopics will be shown at Open Air Theatre at Jogger’s Park in Altinho near Panaji. 

In the International competition section, 15 movies will be screened out of which 3 are Indian. 

Masterclasses and In-conversation, where leading film personalities interact with delegates, are one of the most popular sections of the IFFI. 

Prasoon Joshi, Anil Kapoor, Boney Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Jahnvi Kapoor, David Dhawan, Varun Dhawan, Kaushik Ganguly, Shaji Karun, and Srijit Mukhrjee are among those addressing Materclasses this year.

The IFFI will also pay homage to Shashi Kapoor, Sridevi, M.Karunanidhi and Kalpana Lajmi among others.

This year IFFI will showcase two movies Sholay and Hichki as part of a special package for visually impaired children.