The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) announced the official selections for its Indian Panorama segment for the year 2021 on Saturday. The list of films to be screened at the 52nd edition of the festival will include India’s entry to the 2022 Academy Awards, the Tamil movie Koozhangal.
Produced by Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan under the Rowdy Pictures banner, Koozhangal is directed by debutant Vinothraj, a Madurai-based filmmaker.
Semkhor, the first-ever Dimasa language movie, which is directed by Aimee Baruah, a renowned actor from Assam, is the jury’s choice for the opening feature film of Indian Panorama 2021, announced the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Benagli actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s directorial Abhijaan is among five Bengali movies that made the list, while Marathi films to be screened include features like Godavari, Funeral, and Bittersweet.
Hindi movies that have been selected for screening are Eight Down Toofaan Mail, Alpha Beta Gamma, Teen Adhyay, Jugalbandi, and The Knocker. Besides these, two Malayalam films and four Kannada movies are part of the segment as well.
Acclaimed filmmaker and actor SV Rajendra Singh Babu is head of the jury that picked the movies for the feature category from a wide pool of 221 contemporary Indian films.
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The primary aim of the Indian Panorama segment is to select feature and non-feature films of cinematic, thematic, and aesthetic excellence for the promotion of film art through the non-profit screening of these films under different categories. Since its inception, the Indian Panorama has been completely devoted to showcasing the best Indian films of the year, the press release said. The organisers have picked 25 feature films and 20 non-feature films for screening under the segment this year, the statement added.
Director Rajiv Parkash’s Ved…The Visionary will serve as the opening movie for the non-feature category. The jury of seven members for this section is headed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker S Nallamuthu. The panel selected 20 works from a pool of 203 contemporary Indian non-feature films.
The 52nd edition of International Film Festival of India is being organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Government of India in collaboration with the Goa state government. The nine-day film festival will be organised in a hybrid format – virtual and physical – from November 20 to 28.