Bengaluru International Film Festival 2023 (BIFFES): Full list of films, entry fee, and more

The 14th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) 2023 will be held from March 23 to 30 with the screening of 200 films including Everything Everywhere All At Once, which won seven Oscar awards, from 50 countries.

Also read: Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) 2023: Friday’s (March 24) schedule

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will inaugurate the Bengaluru International Film Festival on Thursday evening (March 23).

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The regular screening of the films will commence on March 24 at 11 screens at Orion Mall, Rajajinagar, Bengaluru, and also at Kannada Kalavidara Sangha, Chamarajpet and Suchitra Film Society, Banashankari.

“The films for the festival have been selected and finalised. There will be 12 sections. There are around 200 films from 50 countries from all parts of the world in conformity with the ‘World in Bengaluru’ theme,” the organisers said in a media release.

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“As in previous editions, competitive sections for Asian, Indian, and Kannada cinemas will be held, with cash prizes awarded to the winners. The film festival will also host academic interactions and discourse on various aspects of filmmaking and film appreciation, such as seminars, workshops, master classes, and so on, for the benefit of filmmaking practitioners, discerning audiences, and media students,” they added.

Here is all you need to know about the 14th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) 2023.

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Registration for BIFFES 2023

“The delegate registration has already started. It is an online process. Those interested may visit the BIFFES website (biffes.org) where a link has been provided. Applicants can fill in a form and make the payment. Only those who are above 18 years are eligible to become delegates,” the organisers said.

The delegate fee for general film enthusiasts is Rs 800, and for film society members/film fraternity/students, it is Rs 400.

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The main highlight of BIFFES 2023

The festival will celebrate legendary cinematographer VK Murthy in the year of his 100th birth anniversary. His iconic movies Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Pyaasa, and Kaagaz Ke Phool will be screened. Murthy, who won the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, was born on November 26, 1923. He passed away on April 7, 2014. His works will be discussed by film director Govind Nihalani and others in the ‘Master Class’ session at BIFFES.

Also read: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ dominates Oscars with 7 awards

Full list of films that will be screened at the 14th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) 2023

Panorama of contemporary Indian cinema

• The Road To Kuthriyar (Director: Bharat Mirle; Country: India; Language: Tamil, English; Duration: 115 minutes; Year: 2021)
• Crescent Night (Director: Gurvinder Singh; Country: India; Language: Punjabi; Duration: 109 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Tora’s Husband (Director: Rima Das; Country: India; Language: Assamese; Duration: 150 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Debries Of Desire (Director: Indranil Roychowdhury; Country: India, Bangladesh; Language: Bangla; Duration: 101 minutes; Year: 2023)
• Dhuin (Fog) (Director: Achal Mishra; Country: India; Language: Hindi, Maithili; Duration: 50 minutes; Year: 2021)
• Shoebox (Director: Faraz Ali; Country: India; Language: Bengali, English, Hindi; Duration: 98 minutes; Year: 2021)
• Tortoise Under The Earth (Director: Shishir Jha; Country: India; Language: English, Santhali; Duration: 97 minutes; Year: 2022)
• The Word And The Teacher (Director: Prashant Pandit; Country: India; Language: Kannada / German / English; Duration: 80 minutes; Year: 2023)
• Family (Director: Don Palathara; Country: India; Language: Malayalam; Duration: 111 minutes; Year: 2022)
• A Running River Is All Legs (Director: Babu Eshwar Prasad; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 94 minutes; Year: 2020)
• Fig Fruit And The Wasps (Director: MS Prakash Babu; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 90 minutes; Year: 2014)
• Cinema Bandi (Director: Praveen Kandregula; Country: India; Language: Telugu; Duration: 98 minutes; Year: 2021)
• A Place Of Our Own (Director: Ektara Collective; Country: India; Language: Hindi; Duration: 90 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Nine Hills One Valley (Director: Haobam Paban Kumar; Country: India; Language: Meitei, Tangkhul; Duration: 75 minutes; Year: 2021)

Revisiting classics of Indian cinema

• Janumada Jodi (Director: TS Nagabharana; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 140 minutes; Year: 1996)
• Sri Krishnadevaraya (Director: BR Panthulu; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 194 minutes; Year: 1970)
• Kasturi Nivasa (Director: Dorai-Bhagavan; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 152 minutes; Year: 1971)
• Thampu (Director: G Aravindan; Country: India; Language: Malayalam; Duration: 130 minutes; Year: 1978)
• Pratidwandi (Director: Satyajit Ray; Country: India; Language: Bengali; Duration: 110 minutes; Year: 1970
• Gopal Krishna (Director: Vishnupant Govind Damle, Sheikh Fattelal; Country: India; Language: Marathi, Hindi; Duration: 138 minutes; Year: 1979)
• Ramshastri (Director: Vishram Bedekar, Gajanan Jagirdar, Raja Nene; Country: India; Language: Marathi; Duration: 122 minutes; Year: 1944)
• Sant Tukaram (Director: Vishnupant Govind Damle, Sheikh Fattelal; Country: India; Language: Marathi; Duration: 131 minutes; Year: 1936)
• Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu (Director: Siddalingaiah; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 155 minutes; Year: 1974)
• America! America!! (Director: Nagatihalli Chandrashekar; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 153 minutes; Year: 1997)
• Bangarada Manushya (Director: Siddalingaiah; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 174 minutes; Year: 1972)

Cinema of the world section

• A Minor (Year: 2022; Country: Iran; Language: Persian; Duration: 99 minutes; Director: Dariush Mehrjui)
• Aftersun (2022/United Kingdom, United States/English/102 minutes/Charlotte Wells)
• Ajoomma (2022/Singapore, South Korea/Mandarin, Korean/90 minutes/He Shuming)
• Alam (2022/France, Tunisia, Palestine/Arabic/104 minutes/Firas Khoury)
• Alcarràs (2022/Spain, Italy/Catalan/120 minutes/Carla Simón)
• Ann (2022/Ireland/English/98 minutes/Ciaran Creagh)
• Arnold Is A Model Student (2022/Thailand, Singapore, France, The Netherlands, Philippines/Thai/85 minutes/Sorayos Prapapan)
• Autobiography (2022/Indonesia/Indonesian/116 minutes/Makbul Mubarak)
• Before, Now & Then (2022/Indonesia/Sundanese/103 minutes/Kamila Andini)
• Boy From Heaven (2022/Sweden, France, Finland/Arabic/126 minutes/Tarik Saleh)
• Breaking The Waves (1996/Denmark, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Spain, United Kingdom/English/158 minutes/Lars Von Trier)
• Close (2022/Belgium, France, Netherlands/French, Dutch/105 minutes/Lukas Dhont)
• Crane Latern (2021/Azerbaijan/Azarbaijani/110 minutes/Hilal Baydarov)
• Dancer In The Dark (2000/Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States/English/140 minutes/Lars Von Trier)
• Decision To Leave (2022/South Korea/Korean/138 minutes/Park Chan-Wook)
• Everything Everywhere All At Once (2021/USA/English/Mandarin/Cantonese/139 minutes/Daniel Kwan,Daniel Scheinert)
• Eviction (2021/Hungary/Hungarian/105 minutes/Mate Fazekas)
• Farha (2021/Jordan,Sweden, Soudi Arabia/English, Arabic/92 minutes/Darim J.Sallam)
• Godland (2022/Denmark,Island/Danish,Icelandic/143 minutes/Saim Sadiq)
• Granny Poetry Club (2019/South Korea/Korean/99 minutes/Kim Jae Hwan)
• Holy Spider (2022/Denmark, Germany,Sweden, France/Persian/117 minutes/Ali Abbasi)
• Island Of Lost Girls (2022/United States, Mexico/English/104 minutes/Ann Marie Schmidt, Brian Schmidt)
• Klondike (2022/Ukraine,Turkiye/Ukranian,Russian,Chechen, Dutch/100 minutes/Maryna Er Gorbach)
• L’immensità (2022/Italy/Italian/98 minutes/Emanuel Crialese)
• Maya Nilo (2022/Sweden, Finland, Belgium/Swedish, French, Portuguese/97 minutes/Lovisa Siren)
• Mediterranean Fever (2022/Palestine, Germany, France, Cyprus, Qatar/Arabic/108 mins/Maha Haj)
• Mercy (2021/Hungary/Hungarian/95 mins/Károly Eperjes)
• Miracle: Letters To The President (2021/South Korea/Korean/117 minutes/Lee Jang-Hoon)
• My Brothers Dream Awake (2021/Chile/Spanish/85 minutes/Claudia Huaiquimilla)
• Nezouh (2022/France,Uk,Syria/Arabic/103 minutes/Soudade Kaadan)
• No Bears (2022/Iran/Farsi, Azeri, Turkish/107 minutes/Jafar Panahi)
• No End (2022/Germany, Iran, Turkiye/Turkish-Dialekt Asejitish/122 minutes/Nader Saeivar)
• Numb (2022/Iran/Farsi/91 minutes/Amir Toodehroosta)
• Piaffe (2022/Germany/German/English/86 minutes/Ann Oren)
• R.M.N (2022/Romania/Romanian/125 minutes/Cristian Mungiu)
• Return To Seoul (2022/France,Germany, Belgium, Combodia, Qatar/French, Korean, English/116 minutes/Devy Chou)
• Riceboy Sleeps (2022/Canada/English/Korean/117 minutes/Anthony Shim)
• Saint Omer (2022/France/French/122 minutes/Alice Diop)
• Shrieking In The Rain (2021/Japan/Japanese/102 minutes/Eiji Uchida)
• Snow And The Bear (2022/Turkiye, Germany,Serbia/Turkish/93 minutes/Secen Ergun)
• Sonne (2022/Austria/German,Kurdish/88 minutes/Kurdwin Ayub)
• Stone Turtle (2022/Malaysia, Indonesia/Indonesian, Malay, Mandarin/91 minutes/Woo Ming Jin)
• Sublime (2022/Argentina/Spanish/100 minutes/Mariano Biasin)
• Subtraction (2022/Iran, France/ Farsi/107 minutes/Mani Haghighi)
• The Beasts (2022/Spain, France/Spanish, French/137 minutes/Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
• The Blue Caftan (2022/France, Morocco, Belgium/Arabic/123 minutes/Maryam Touzani)
• The Line (2022/Switzerland, France, Belgium/French/101 minutes/Ursula Meier)
• The Night Of The 12th (2022/France, Belgium/French/115 minutes/Dominik Moll)
• The Whale (2022/USA/English/117 minutes/Darren Aronofsky)
• The Worst Ones (2022/France/French/99 minutes/Lise Akoka, Romance Gueret)
• Tori And Lokita (2022/Belgium, France/French/88 minutes/Jean-Pierre Dardenne,Luc Dardenne)
• Triangle Of Sadness (2022/Sweden/English/149 minutes/Ruben Ostlund)
• Until Tomorrow (2022/Iran, France, Qatar/Persian/86 minutes/Ali Asgari)
• Utama (2022/Bolivia,Uruguay,France/ Spanish,Quechua/87 minutes/Alejandro Loayza Grisi)
• When The Waves Are Gone (2022/Philippines, France, Portugal, Denmark/Tagalog/197 mins/Lav Diaz)
• Woodcutter Story (2022/Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany/Finnish/98 minutes/Mikko Myllylahti)
• Word (2022/Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland/Czech, Slovak/104 minutes/Beata Parkanova)

Critics Week

• Beautiful Beings (Director: Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson; Country: Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, Czechia; Language: Icelandic; Duration: 123 minutes; Year: 2022)
• The Quiet Girl (Director: Colm Bairéad; Country: Ireland; Language: Irish, English; Duration: 95 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Minsk (Director: Boris Guts; Country: Estonia; Language: Russian; Duration: 78 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Leila’s Brothers (Director: Saeed Roustayi; Country: Iran; Language: Persian; Duration: 165 minutes; Year: 2022)
• I Have Electric Dreams (Director: Valentina Maurel; Country: Belgium, France, Costa Rica; Language: Spanish, English; Duration: 101 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Safe Place (Director: Juraj Lerotic; Country: Croatia; Language: Croatian; Duration: 103 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Argentina, 1985 (Director: Santiago Mitre; Country: Argentina, USA; Language: Spanish; Duration: 140 minutes; Year: 2022)

Country focus (South Korea)

• Broker (Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu; Country: South Korea; Language: Korean; Duration: 129 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Hommage (Director: Shin Su-won; Country: South Korea; Language: Korean; Duration: 108 minutes; Year: 2021)
• Havana (Director: Yong-ho Hong; Country: South Korea; Language: Korean; Duration: 101 minutes; Year: 2022)
• The Novelist’s Film (Director: Hong Sangsoo; Country: South Korea; Language: Korean; Duration: 92 minutes; Year: 2022)
• The Hill Of Wind (Director: Seok-yeong Park; Country: South Korea; Language: Korean; Duration: 106 minutes; Year: 2020)
• Move The Grave (Director: Seung-O Jeong; Country: South Korea; Language: Korean; Duration: 98 minutes; Year: 2019)
• Lucky Chan Sil (Director: Cho-hee Kim; Country: South Korea; Language: Korean; Duration: 106 minutes; Year: 2019)

Study of a Director – Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong)

• Chungking Express (1994/ Hong Kong/Chinese/102 minutes/Wong Kar Wai)
• Fallen Angels (1995/ Hong Kong/ Chinese /99 minutes/ Wong Kar Wai)
• Happy Together (1997/Hong Kong/Cantonese, Spanish/96 minutes/ Wong Kar Wai
• In The Mood For Love (2000/Hong Kong, France/98 minutes/ Wong Kar Wai)
• 2046 (2004/Hong Kong, France, Italy, China, Germany/129 minutes/Wong Kar Wai)

Ousmane Sembène at 100: A tribute to Senegal’s ‘Father of African cinema’: Retrospective of Sembene (1923-2007)

• Black Girl (Original title: La Noire De) (Senegal/1966/62 minutes/Sembene)
• Borom Sarret (Senegal/1963/20 minutes/short/Sembene
• Mandabi (Senegal/1968 /92 minutes/Sembene)
• Moolaade (Senegal/2004/124 minutes/Sembene)
• Sembene! (Documentary/90 minutes)

‘Centenary celebration’ of VK Murthy (1923-2014)

• Pyaasa (1957/Hindi/Guru Dutt/VK Murthy)
• Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959/Hindi/Dutt/Murthy)
• Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960/Hindi/Dutt/Murthy)
• Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962/Hindi/Abrar Alvi/Murthy)

A session on Kannada popular cinema

• Head Bush (Director: Shoonya; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 138 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Raj Sounds And Lights (Director: Rahul Amin; Country: India; Language: Tulu; Duration: 154 minutes: Year: 2022
• By Two Love (Director: Hari Santhosh; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 141 minutes; Year: 2022:
• Vikrant Rona (Director: Anup Bhandari; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 147 minutes; Year: 2022:
• 777 Charlie (Director: Kiranraj K; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 164 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Gandhadagudi (Director: Amoghavarsha JS; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 98 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Kantara (Director: Rishab Shetty; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 150 minutes; Year: 2022)
• K.G.F: Chapter 2 (Director: Prashanth Neel; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 168 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Vedha (Director: Harsha; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 156 minutes; Year: 2022)
• Gaalipata 2 (Director: Yogaraj Bhat; Country: India; Language: Kannada; Duration: 151 minutes; Year: 2022)

BIFFES 2023: Films selected for Asian competition

BIFFES 2023: Films selected for Indian competition

BIFFES 2023: Films selected for Kannada competition