Kolkata International Film Festival to begin from Dec 5; 219 movies to be screened

Kolkata, Nov 29 (PTI) A total of 219 movies from 39 countries will be screened in the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) which will be held from December 5 to 12 in 23 venues across the city.

Spain will be the focus country in the festival and six contemporary works from that country to be shown during the week, senior minister and KIFF chief advisor Aroop Biswas told a press conference here on Wednesday.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, veteran star Anil Kapoor and Kamal Hasan will grace the inaugural function at Netaji Indoor where another Bollywood legend Shatrughan Sinha will be present as a special guest.

Of the 219 films, 72 features and 50 shorts and documentaries will be screened in different competition categories of KIFF, Festival Committee Chairperson Raj Chakraborty, who was present at the press meet, said.

Thirteen films from across the world will vie for the Best Film and Best Director Golden Royal Bengal Trophies in the International Competition (Innovation in Moving Images) with prize money of Rs 51 lakh and Rs 21 lakh respectively in the festival.

Biswas said, "Ours is the biggest film festival in the world in terms of prize money given in the two categories as well as considering the 15,000 expected audience turnout at the inaugural show at the Netaji Indoor Stadium." The 1963 Bengali classic Deya Neya, starring matinee idol Uttam Kumar, will be the inaugural film to strike a balance between local content and International cinema, classics and contemporary, said Biswas, the Youth Affairs and Sports Minister.

The Bengali Panorama section will be competitive for the first time with prize money of Rs 7.5 lakh for the winner, Chakraborty said.

The Special focus country will be Australia as 15 contemporary works from that country will be screened.

The Centenary tribute section will be studded with films by Mrinal Sen, Dev Anand and Richard Attenborough along with five others.

While the prestigious Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Laurence Kardish on December 9, Manoj Bajpayee and Sudhir Mishra will address one of the masterclass sessions on acting and direction.

Anurag Kashyap's 'Kennedy' will be screened during one of the days of the KIFF followed by a question and answer session with the audience and media, information and cultural affairs minister Indranil Sen said.

Aditi Rao Haydari will grace the closing function on December 12 where the prize winners in various categories will be announced and feted.

Film-maker Goutam Ghosh, present at the press meet, said seven Kurdish films will be shown for the discerning audiences in In Search of Identity section. PTI