International Film Festival of India to witness presence of major OTT players this time, along with the usual screenings and tributes

The 52nd edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held from November 20 to 28 in Goa. Bigger and better, this edition would honour global film icons, Martin Scorsese and Istevan Szabo, with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award. For the very first time, keeping up with the times, IFFI has invited major OTT players to participate. Also, the BRICS Film Festival will be held alongside IFFI. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Voot and Sony Liv will become part of the film festival and hold master classes, previews and screenings. Marking the 75th year of India’s independence, a competition, 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow — Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, will be held before the festival and the winner will get a chance to attend the festival at Goa in November.

Carlos Saura’s The King Of All The World (El Rey de Todo El Mundo) will be the opening film, among a record 624 films from 96 countries received for the International Section this time. It will also be The King Of All The World’s international premiere. The Power of the Dog, directed by Jane Campion, Winner of Best Director at Venice Film Festival, will be the Mid Fest Film. As many as 30 films have been shortlisted for screening at the 52nd IFFI from prominent International Film Festivals in the Festival Kaleidoscope and World Panorama Section. The jury for the International Competition comprises Iranian filmmaker Rakhshan Banietemad, who is also the jury chairperson, British film director-producer Stephen Woolley, Columbian filmmaker Ciro Guerra, Srilankan filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara and Indian filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda.

Istvan Szabo, one of the most critically acclaimed Hungarian film directors, known for masterpieces like Mephisto (1981) and Father (1966), and Martin Scorsese, one of the major figures of the new Hollywood era, widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential directors in film history, will be honoured with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award.

Virtual world

In a first, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Voot and Sony Liv will participate at the Film Festival through exclusive master classes, content launches and previews, curated film package screenings, and various other on-ground and virtual events. Netflix will organise a three-day virtual master class by the Paris-based renowned school of image and arts, Gobelins — School L’image. It will also hold India premiere of Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. SonyLiv has proposed a master class by Scam 1992 screenplay writers Sumit Purohit and Saurav Dey. Zee5 has specially curated Breakpoint, the popular Paes and Bhupathi series by Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwini Iyer for the festival.

Films from five BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China and India — will be showcased through the BRICS Film Festival, alongside IFFI.

Meanwhile, the 2021 edition of IFFI will pay homage to Dilip Kumar, Sumitra Bhave, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Sanchari Vijay, Surekha Sikri, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bertrand Tavenier, Christopher Plummer and Jean-Claude Carrière. The retrospective section will feature renowned Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr. He is auteur filmmaker who has created his own visual style, winning accolades at Berlin, Cannes and Locarno Film Festival. Retrospective of Russian filmmaker and stage director Andrei Konchalovsky will also be shown. His films have won numerous accolades, including the Cannes Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, a FIPRESCI Award, two Silver Lions, three Golden Eagle Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. The retrospective will also include Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner Rajinikanth. A special tribute will also be paid to Sir Sean Connery, the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on the big screen. — TNS