The 49th International Film Festival Of India will begin in Panjim, Goa tomorrow with the world premiere of The Aspern Papers, a period drama set in Venice, directed by Julien Landais and adapted from the novella by Henry James. The nine-day long festival will showcase 212 films from over 68 countries, under 15 sections.
This year, Israel will be the country of focus at the festival, with a segment featuring 10 Israeli films, curated in collaboration with the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai. One of the chief international guests include Israeli actor Alon Aboutboul, while actor Dan Wolman will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In the retrospective section, marking 100 years of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s birth, seven feature films by the iconic director, and a documentary on Bergman titled Bergman Island will be screened. Three years ago, Israel’s most revered veteran filmmaker Amos Gitai was felicitated with a retrospective section dedicated to him at the 46th International Film Festival Of India.
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There are 15 films in the international competition section, out of which three are Indian films – Ee Ma Yau (Malayalam), Bhayanakam (Malayalam) and To Let (Tamil). Fifteen films in the World Panorama section are Oscar submissions from various countries. In one of the three retrospective sections, films of Vinod Khanna, this year’s recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award, will be screened. Twenty two Indian feature films will be screened in the Indian Panorama (feature) section which will open with Shaji N Karun’s Malayalam feature, Olu. The category will feature six Malayalam films, four Tamil films, five Bengali language films, two Hindi films and one film each in Ladakhi and Tulu languages.
Apart from the yearly sections, six Indian sports biopics will be screened at the Joggers’ Park in Altinho as part of the Khelo India national programme. This section features mainstream films like Gold, 1983 (Malayalam) Soorma, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Kom, and MSD: The Untold Story. Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Chitrangada Singh will attend the festival to present the sports films.