Nov 22 to witness commencing of IFFI

The 39th International Film Festival of India (2008) is all set to kick off in Panaji, Goa on Nov 22. While noted film actors Rekha and Kamal Hassan will attend as the Chief Guest of opening and closing ceremony, respectively, actress Tabu will join as jury.

Besides, the Governor of Goa, S.S Siddhu, the Chief Minister, Digamber Kamath and the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Anand Sharma will also grace with their presence.

Actress Amrita Rao will do the part of compeering on the inaugural day. The other Film luminary to join on the occasion as special guest is Telgu Actress of Goan origin, Illina D.Cruz.

The festival is being jointly organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and the State Government of Goa and the Indian Film Industry. It aims at providing a common platform to the talented filmmakers around the world in showcasing their excellence of the film art; contributing to the understanding and appreciation of film cultures of different nations in the context of their social and cultural ethos; and promoting friendship and co-operation among peoples of the world.

The festival will open with the Hong Kong director Peter Chan’s Warlords and Eric Khoo’s My Magic from Singapore. There will also be a special tribute to Peter Chan, and Iranian actress and movie director Niki Karimi.

In the competition sections a total of 15 films from across the world will be featured which include: My Mother’s Tears (Argentina/Germany), Rupantor (Transformation) (Bangladesh), The Song of Sparrows (Iran), Kanachivaram and Mahasatta (India), The Red Spot (Japan/Germany), Tulpan (Kazakhstan), The Shaft (China), Pensil (Malaysia), Ploning (Philippines), Akasa Kusum (Sri Lanka), The Coffin (Thailand) etc.

The Film India Worldwide section will include films made by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in collaboration with foreign filmmakers. The entries are: Death Without Consent (USA), Barah Aana and Chaurasta-Cross Roads of Love (India), Tandoori Love (Switzerland). Besides, films of Aki Kaurismaki (Finland), John Landis (USA) and Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong) will be screened in Foreign Retrospective segment.

Also, there are 26 Feature films and 21 Non-Feature films to be screened in Indian Panorama section. Films of all-time veterans Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, B. Saroja Devi and Tapan Sinha will be presented in Lifetime Classics. The Festival will also pay homage to G.P.Sippy, B.R.Chopra, F.C.Mehra, Jayashree Gadkar, Raghuvaran, Mahendra Kapoor Jeeva, Sridhar, Vijay Tendulkar and Nabendu Ghosh.

Taj Mahal: A Celluloid Journey will screen films based on Taj Mahal – Shiraj (silent film)- 1928, Shah Jahan –1964, Taj Mahal –1963 and Taj Mahal –2005.

This year’s jury members include Peter Chan, Venice Film Festival director Marco Mueller, Iranian actress Niki Karimi, Filipino director Lav Diaz and Indian actress Tabu.