Goa set to host 38th IFFI for fourth consecutive year

Panaji, Nov 22 (UNI) The picturesque tiny state of Goa is all set to host the 38th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) from tomorrow which has many firsts to its credit.

The festival will have a Pakistani film and advance ticket booking for delegates. Besides, the carnival like atmosphere surrounding the festival in the last three years will not be there with the organisers deciding to focus only on cinema.

The 11-day festival, to be inaugurated by Boolywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, will begin with the Palme d'Or winning Romanian film ''Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days'' by C Istian Mungiu.

But the highlight of the festival will be the Naseerudin Shah-starrer ''Khuda Ke Liye'', the first-ever Pakistani movie to be screened at IFFI.

Directed by Shoaib Mansoor, the thought-provoking drama which focuses on the dilemma of progressive Muslims in the country because of their modern approach towards life.

Manipuri cinema will make a comeback after several years with Makhonmani Mongsaba's Yenning Amadi Likla in the feature film section of the Indian Panorama, along with 20 other films.

Apart from that, Aribam Syam Sharma's 58-minute documentary ''Rajarshi Bhagyachandra of Manipur'' and Haobam Paban Kumar's 19-minute short fiction ''Ngaihak Lambida'' are among the 15 non-feature films.

The Indian Panorama will have 21 features and 15 non-feature films. The Cinema of the World section will have about 60 award-winning feature films from 40 countries.

For the first time, a ticketing system has been introduced whereby every delegate will have to book in advance films that he or she would like to see. A maximum of three tickets for every delegate and five for every mediaperson will be issued.

Film India Worldwide curated by Uma da Cunha and introduced last year will showcase AIDS awareness movies made under the AIDS JaaGo programme.

The list includes US-based Indian filmmaker Mira Nair's Migration, Farhan Akhtar's Positive, Santosh Sivan's Prarambha and Vishal Bharadwaj's Blood Brothers, apart from Christopher Smith's The Pool and Richie Mehta's Amal. Significantly, ''The Pool'' has been shot in Goa.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will present a retrospective on living together with Samia by Philippe Faucon, ''When You Come Down from Heaven'' by Eric Guirard, ''What's Going On?'' by Rabah Ameur-Za meche, ''My Neighbours'' by Malik Chibane, ''Zim&Co'' by Pierre Jolivet and ''Forgetting Cheyenne'' by Val rie Minetto as part of the bouquet.

The retrospective this year will be on Bengali director Tapan Sinha and Bollywood filmmaker Vijay Anand.

The festival will also pay homage to ace cinematographer K K Mahajan, actress Vanamala Devi and music director O P Nayyar with special screenings.

The tribute section will screen Swedish Master Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and The Magician.

The Indian Panorama will have two movies each of Bengal maestro Buddhadeb Dasgupta and southern heavyweight Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

Sameer Hanchante's Gafla, Samir Chanda's Ek Nadir Galpo and Bhavna Talwar's Dharm will be part of the section.

The highlights in the foreign section include 14 feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America in the competitive section.

The India@60 section, which will celebrate 60 years of Independence, will screen four documentaries based on the spirit of freedom and patriotism.

The Navya Movement in Kannada language has inspired a generation of filmmakers and marked a turning point in Kannada cinema.

Three landmark Kannada films -- Pattabhi Rama Reddy's Samskara, Late B V Karanth's Chomana Dudi and Girish Kasravalli's Ghatashraddha -- will be screened under the Navya Movement and Kannada Cinema.

Critically-acclaimed Portuguese-Spanish film Fados - Melding of Culture, Customs and Sound will bring the curtain down on the festival December 3.

The infrastructure this year has also been upgraded considerably.

Apart from the four screens at INOX, one at Kala Academy, two at Old GMC complex and two public theatres have been added, taking the seating capacity to nearly 3000.

UNI