The 8th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival was launched on Thursday with a starry opening ceremony at the Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru. The festival will showcase over 150 movies from 60 countries. 13 Indian films will be screened in the competition category. The festival, organised by a committee headed by the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, is set up at a budget of over Rs 4 crore. The full schedule of the festival can be found here.
Actor and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan, Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Telegu actor D. Venkatesh, former tennis player and Hollywood director Ashok Amritraj attended the inaugural function. The event had performances from actor and danseuse Shobana, and Kathak dancers Nirupama and Rajendra. The film festival began with the screening of the critically acclaimed Kannada movie Thithi. Regular festival movie screenings began this morning at the PVR Cinemas at Orion Mall in Bengaluru and at the INOX screens at the Mall Of Mysore in Mysuru.
The highlight of the festival will be the special retrospective on the works of noted Armenian film-maker Harutyun Khachatryan. His award-winning films, Border, Endless Escape, and Eternal Return, will be screened at the festival. BIFFes also has a separate section, Docu@BIFFes, for documentaries. Around 29 documentaries based on the theme of ‘climate change and drought’, curated by Vikalp Bengaluru, will be screened in this section.
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BIFFes also features master-classes and workshops led by film personalities. Friday opens with a talk session with actor Jaya Bachchan, Oscar-winning sound technician Resul Pookkutty, and Ashok Amritraj. Film maker Mani Ratnam will lead a masterclass, moderated by film critic Ira Bhaskar, on Saturday, January 30. Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihlani will speak at a session on January 31.
Feature Image courtesy: Karnataka Varthe