'IFFI' SETTLED IN GOA!

Like 'Cannes film festival' our 'Internatioanal Film Festival of India' ('IFFI' ) has a permanent venue now...and that's also alongside of sea...in Goa!..'35th IFFI' was first time organised in Goa and in initial period it gave a feel of carnival!..But now the picture is changed and international film festival culture emerged there..and 'IFFI' settled in Goa!!

Inauguration of 'North-East Cinema' section at the hands of
Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma with
Assamese actress Zerifa Wahid, Seema Biswas & filmmaker
Ms.Manju Borah and Director of 'IFFI' Mr. Shankar Mohan.

Czeck filmmaker Jiri Menzel honoured by filmmaker Ramesh Sippy!

Recently '44th International Film Festival of India' held in Goa..with it's special highlights!..This time there was International Competition section and apart from main Indian Panorama and World Cinema,..there were new categories, which includes Masterstrokes, Festival Kaleidoscope, Soul of Asia, Soul in Art..with regular Country focus, Retrospective & Homage sections!..As usual Indian Panorama was divided in two parts..Feature films & Non-Feature films..and this time there was main focus on North-East Cinema!..Apart from this there were special sections..Tribute to Masters of Indian Cinema, Musical Journey of Indian Cinema & Incredible India on Screen!

I&B Minister Mr.Manish Tewai felicitated actress Waheeda Rehman.

At the inauguration ceremony of this '44th IFFI'..renowned Czeck Filmmaker Jiri Menzel honoured with 'Lifetime Achievement Award'!..Actor, Screenwriter & Director..Jiri Menzel became famous, when his first feature film 'Closely Watched Trains' (1967) won Best Foreign Language Film 'Oscar'!
His films like..'Larks on a string' (1969) and 'My sweet little village' (1981)..handled different genre...But his humanistic view and cinematic excellence always received admiration!..His new Czech movie 'The Don Juans' (2013) was the inaugural film of this festival!..Renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi and famous Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon were there in this function as Chief Guests!


On the occasion of 100 years of Indian Cinema..veteran Actress Waheeda Rehaman honoured with the..first 'Centenary Award for the Indian Film Personality of the year' in the inaugural function of this '44th IFFI'!..This time there was a Special Tribute to our veteran film Actor & Filmmaker Manoj Kumar..who was felicitated..And he also inaugurated 'Indian Panorama' in this film festival..This time there were about 26 feature films & 16 non-feature films from various regional languages of our country..which mainly concerned with the social issues and handled through innovative cinematic treatment!..

This time there were large number of Bengali and Malayalam films as compare to others in it!..In Bengali films Anjan Das's sensitively handled 'Ajana Batas' focused on loneliness & family problem..in which Paoli Dam portrayed that character effectively!..Then Indranil Roy chowdhury's 'Phoring' looked in to growing up teen age's feelings!..

In Rituparno Ghosh's last film 'Satyanweshi'..Arpita Chatterjee & co-actor.!

Actress Paoli Dam addressing press conference.

And there was (late) Rituparno Ghosh's last movie 'Satyanweshi'..in which (director turned actor) Sujay Ghosh portrayed male protagonist & beautiful Arpita Chatterjee performed royal lady nicely!.But missed Rituparno's master touch!!..About Malayalam films..Kamal directed 'Celluloid' depicts the life & times of Dr. J.C.Daniel..the pioneer of Malayalam cinema!..whereas K.R.Manoj's 'Kanyaka Talkies' disappointed with it's different content!..And other side Joy Mathew's suspense thriller 'Shutter' was like a popular commercial movie!..In this Panorama there was one good Kannada film 'Bharath Stores'..directed by P. Sheshadri who focused the tragedy of provision store in growing mall culture in modern India!..M.G.Dattattreya & Sudharani excellently acted in it!

M.G.Dattattreya & Sudharani in Kannda film 'Bharath Stores'.

There were unique Marathi films like..'Fandry', 'Tappal' & 'Astu' in it!..Nagraj Manjule made a satiric cinematic comment in his directorial 'Fandry' in which village children acted naturally!..Sumitra Bhave & Sunil Sukhatankar's 'Astu' portrayed contemporary picture of society with a man who lost his memory!..Then there was good Konkani movie..Laxmikant Shetgaonkar's 'Baga Beach' which explores the struggles of people living on the coastal belt of Goa!..Paoli Dam also acted in it!..Then there was notable Assamese film..Manju Borah's 'Ko:Yad' which depict the survival of village people, where boat used as metaphor!

 There was folk kind of humorous musical too..Sabyasachi Mahapatra's Oriya black & white film 'Sala Budha'! Apart from this, Hindi hit offbeat films were there..like Tigmanshu Dhulia's Irfan Khan acted 'Paan Singh Tomar' and Rakesh Omprakash Mehra's Farhan Akhtar acted 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'!..And there was Avinash Kumar Singh's sensitive lyrical 'Listen Amaya' in which hit pair came after long time..Deepti Naval and Farooque Shaikh..who is no more!

Purab Kohli and Kirti Kulhari in Hindi movie 'Jal'.!

There was unique Hindi movie 'JAL' in this '44thIFFI's panorama..It was a triangular love story on the backdrop of water problem...in which one young village man knows how to find water in the desert..A popular kind of genre artistically handled by it's director Girish Malik, who himself written it's Screenplay with Rakesh Mishra!...And Artists..Purab Kohli, Tanishtha Chatterjee, Kirti Kulhari, Saidah Jules, Mukul Dev, Yashpal Sharma, Rahul Singh, Ravi Gosain, Gary Richardson & Elena Kazan..played their roles fantastically!..It has Music by..Sonu Nigam & Bikram Ghosh!..'Jal's director Girish Malik was present with artists Purab Kohli & beautiful Kirti Kulhari in 'IFFI', Goa!..It was nice interacting with them after the screening of film!

  Neetu Chandra & old co-actor in Greece/Cyprus film 'Block 12'.

Louise Bourgain & Pierre Rochefort in French film 'Going Away'!

There were few good movies in 'Cinema of the World' of this 'IFFI'!..Greece & Cyprus joint film 'Oikopedo 12' (Block 12)..was a unique film in this section!..A special thing about it..this is Indian actress Neetu Chandra's first international movie! It's unusual adventures of a family, which due to the economic crisis are forced to live in the little house of the father, who has withdrawn from the world!..To make matters worse, the government wants to buy the house..and then what happen is a socio-political satire!..Entirely different kind of genre..for which it's director Kyriacos Tofarides gave abstract touch!..Even he added dream song-dance sequences..like Indian cinema!..And artists like Costas Demetriou, Carmen Ruggeri played their roles satiricaly & Neetu Chandra appeared beautifuly but in same style of film!..Then there was a good Polish movie 'Life Feels Good' directed by Maciel Pieprzyco!..It deals with Cerebral Palsy disease & life of a person who survive with it!..David Ogradnik acted excellent in it!

Emmanuelle Devos & Gabriel Byrne in French film 'Just A Sigh'

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There were three nice French movies..Nicole Garcia's 'Going Away', Jerome Bonnell's 'Just A Sigh' & Katell Quillevere's 'Suzanne'!..How loner teacher meets young mother of a boy and what made them unite is sensitively showed in Nicole Garcia's 'Going Away' in which Louise Bourgain & Pierre Rochefort acted nicely!..And Jarome Bonnell's 'Just A Sigh' had a unique romantic plot..in which two strangers meets in the train, exchange their emotions and fall in love passionately! Emmanuelle Devos & Gabriel Byrne acted in a same way in it! Then Katell Quillevere's Suzanne' depict a story of close sisters and their emotional world!..Lala Duenas & Sara Forestier acted sensitively in it!

A climax scene of  Serbian film 'Led'.!

A pleasant surprise in this 'Cinema of the World' section was Serbian films..like 'Led', 'Circles' & renowned filmmaker Goran Paskaljevik's 'When Day Breaks'!..Jelena Bajic Jocic's 'Led' (Ice) was a metaphor!..On the backdrop of the era of Marshal Tito during 1970s..it's story centres around a young man  hunted by memories of his father..With a sensitive cinematic treatment it beautifully visualised!..Velimir 'Bata' Zivojinovi, Olga Odanovic, Danijela Mihajlovic acted nicely in it!

Assunta De Rossi, Alessandra De Rossi & Adrian Sebastain in Philippines film  'The Palawan Script'!

..Then Srdan Golubovic's 'Circles' was based on the real-life events which focused on the socio-political scenario of that region!..And Paskaljevik's 'When Day Breaks' had war backdrop in which retired music professor discovers his true origins under unusual circumstances..Mustafa Nadarevic portrayed this role very sensitively!

And in 'International Competition' section of this 'IFFI'..there were various kind of films..some handled unique themes with exclusive cinematic treatment!..In this Philippines film 'The Palawan Script' was a unusual triangle love story in which two sisters loves a deaf-mute man whose only way of communication is an ancient Palawanon script!..It's director Auraeus Solito handled this subject very sensitively and artists Assunta De Rossi, Alessandra De Rossi & Adrian Sebastain portrayed their characters perfectly!..After this Russian movie 'Waiting for the Sea' was a moving celluloid experience in which one man fights against nature to bring the vanished sea back!

Egor Beroev & Anastasia Mikulchina in Russian film 'Waiting for the Sea'.

.It's symbolic kind of thing which inspire to achieve impossible thing in life!..Director Bakhtyar Khudajnazarov handled this adventurous drama interestingly and Egor Beroev & Anastasia Mikulchina superbly acted in it! Then Israel's movie 'A Place in Heaven' was a cinematic comment on search of peace & love in a war & military life!..It's director Yossi Madmony gave a contemporary look to it!

A group of awards winners in International Competition of this 'IFFI' with juries.

A scene from Polish film 'In Hiding'.!

'Beatriz's War' a East Timor film bagged 'Golden Peacock Award' for Best Film in this '44th International Film Festival of India'!..This film is a passionate story of one woman's conviction to remain loyal  to the man she loves!..Stella Zammataro & Lurdes Pires produced this film directed by Betty Reis & Luigi Acquisto!..Then Indian-Bengali film 'Meghe Dhaka Tara' (new) directed by Kamaleshwar Mukherjee won the 'Silver Peacock award'!..A black & white film based on the life and works of legendary Bengali film writer-director Ritwik Ghatak!..But it mostly focused on his theatre work..and less on his cinematic excellence!..And the Best Director award was given to Kaushik Ganguly for his film 'Apur Panchali'!..This is a  real life story inspired by Subir Banerjee, the child actor who played Apu in renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray's 'Pather Panchali'!..In acting Alon Moni Aboutboul won the Best Actor award for his performance in the film 'A Place in Heaven', where his performance as a cruel and sensitive character was applauded!..And the Best Actress award won by Magdalena Boczarska for her intense, strong portrayal of a victim who subtly turns an oppressor in Jan Kidawa-Blonski directed Polish film 'In Hiding'!

A scene from Bengali film 'Apur Panchali.'

..The Special Jury Award was granted to Onur Unlu, director of Turkey film 'Thou Gild'st The Even'.!

Pop Singer Remo Fernandes rocked!

Famous Malaysian & Hollywood Actress Michelle Yeoh ('Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' fame) was the Chief Guest of this '44th IFFI's closing ceremony held at Goa!..Popular Rock fusion artist & Pop Singer  Remo Fernandes rocked in it!! 

- Manoj Kulkarni

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