47th 'International Film Festival of India' opens tomorrow!

Image courtesy- getty images

Panaji: Veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy will inaugurate the 47th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here tomorrow in the presence of Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu.

"Chief-guest for the opening ceremony will be the veteran film maker of 'Sholay' fame, Ramesh Sippy. The Guest of Honor will be actor Sushant Singh Rajput, while special guests include, Prosenjeet and Shri Gautam Ghosh, renowned directors," festival director C Senthil Rajan told reporters here.

Polish drama film 'Afterimage' (2016) directed by Andrzej Wajda would open the eight-day long festival, where close to 300 films from 90 countries will be screened.

The opening film was screened in the Masters section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival and was selected as the Polish entry for the best foreign language film at the 89th Academy Awards.

"This time, the Republic of Korea is the focus country of IFFI 2016 and South Korea's Ambassador to India, His Excellency Hyun Cho, will grace the opening ceremony," Rajan said.

Interesting and acclaimed work of contemporary stalwarts of Korean Cinema like, Sang-ho Yeon, Zhang Lu and Lee Joon Ik will be screened at the festival.

'The Age of Shadows' directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon, will be the closing film for the festival on November 28. The film is also Korea's official entry for the Academy Awards this year.

The lifetime achievement award this year would be given to renowned Korean filmmaker Kwon Taek Im, who is known for his films like "Wife", "The Family Pedigree", among others.

Rajan said IFFI will recognise the young talent under a new competition section - Centenary Award for best debut feature film of a director.

"The section will showcase some of the outstanding directorial debuts of 2016 pulled from across the globe," he added.

Total 15 films including two from Indian Panorama section of the festival will compete for coveted awards that would be given on the last day of the festival.

Rajan said acclaimed writer-director Ivan Passer is the chairperson of the international jury.

As a part of 'Clean India' campaign, the festival will showcase a special package of 20 award winning short films basaed on 'Swachh Bharat' theme. MORE PTI RPS NP m Festival and was selected as the Polish entry for the best foreign language film at the 89th Academy Awards.

"This time, the Republic of Korea is the focus country of IFFI 2016 and South Korea's Ambassador to India, His Excellency Hyun Cho, will grace the opening ceremony," Rajan said.

Interesting and acclaimed work of contemporary stalwarts of Korean Cinema like, Sang-ho Yeon, Zhang Lu and Lee Joon Ik will be screened at the festival.

'The Age of Shadows' directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon, will be the closing film for the festival on November 28. The film is also Korea's official entry for the Academy Awards this year.

The lifetime achievement award this year would be given to renowned Korean filmmaker Kwon Taek Im, who is known for his films like "Wife", "The Family Pedigree", among others.

Rajan said IFFI will recognise the young talent under a new competition section - Centenary Award for best debut feature film of a director.

"The section will showcase some of the outstanding directorial debuts of 2016 pulled from across the globe," he added.

Total 15 films including two from Indian Panorama section of the festival will compete for coveted awards that would be given on the last day of the festival.

Rajan said acclaimed writer-director Ivan Passer is the chairperson of the international jury.

As a part of 'Clean India' campaign, the festival will showcase a special package of 20 award winning short films basaed on 'Swachh Bharat' theme.