IFFI Goa 2015, Festival Diary, II

To be held from November 20th to 30 2015 in Panaji, Goa, Goa, the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will showcase movies across several sections, including World Cinema, Indian Panorama, Country Focus, International Competition, Retrospectives, Tributes, First Cut, Workshops, Master Classes,  and more. IFFI is organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India, in association with the State Government of Goa.

The Indian Panorama section will showcase 26 Feature and 21 Non-Feature films. Selected by a jury, led by well-known film-maker from the North-East, Aribam Syam Sharma, comprised 13 members, who deliberated over 28 days.

The final list of selected films contains 7 Bengali, 1 Bodo (spoken in Assam), 5 Hindi, 1 Kannada, 1 Konkani, 4 Malayalam, 4 Marathi, 1 Sanskrit, 1 Tamil, 1 Wancho (spoken in Arunachal Pradesh) films. 

Directed by Vinod Mankara, Priyamanasam is the only third movie ever to be made in Sanskrit, and is based on one of the greatest poets who lived in Kerala during the late 17th century, Unnayi Warrier, and wrote the masterpiece, Nalacharitham Attakadha.

Directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta, the Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa (the strange tale of Anwar) is the story of a detective called Anwar, who suddenly decides to follow himself and not anyone else.   

Radiopetti, the first Tamil film to win an award at the Busan Film Festival, is the a story of an old man, Arunachalam, who finds solace in his past, especially when listening to musical melodies of his younger days, on a vintage radio set that his father gave him. The Head Hunter, directed by Mumbai-based film-maker from Assam Nilanjan Datta, is the first film in the Wancho language of Arunachal Pradesh. The film revolves around an old man from a forgotten tribe of India, dreaded for its practice of head hunting.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a commercial block-buster that makes a strong case for cross-border amity. Rajkahini, The Silence, Masaan, Dau Huduni Methai and Court have been screened at other festivals in Mumbai and elsewhere. Masaan, I can confirm, is an achievement, no less.  Rajkahini flattered to deceive, while The Silence was a let-down. Manju Borah has made better films than Dau Huduni Methai. Hope to catch Bajrangi at IFFI.

Selection

Feature Films

Non-Feature Films