IFFI 2015 promises global cinematic gems, with Spain in focus

New Delhi: The 46th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which begins in Goa later this month, will have Spain as its focus country.

The event's opening ceremony will have popular Bollywood actor-producer Anil Kapoor who has made inroads into Hollywood, as the chief guest.

The 10-day IFFI begins on November 20.

"The Kingdom of Spain is the focus country of IFFI 2015. This will provide an opportunity to screen Spanish films. The films of master Spanish filmmakers Carlos Saura and Pedro Almadovar along with contemporary filmmakers like Alejandro Amenabar will be screened at the festival. The section will also feature Spanish actress Leticia Dolera's directorial debut 'Requirements to Be a Normal Person'," Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said during the curtain raiser press conference here on Tuesday.

Matthew Brown's 118 minute-long movie "The Man Who Knew Infinity", starring British actor with Indian roots Dev Patel, will be the opening film of IFFI 2015.

"It is a true story of friendship between Ramanujan (Indian mathematics genius) and Professor G.H. Hardy," Jaitley said while describing the movie, and added that "Mr.India" star Anil Kapoor will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony.

The film festival will showcase 187 films from 89 countries in World Cinema section along with 26 Feature and 21 Non-Feature films in Indian Panorama section.

"The International Competition will have 15 films, including two films from Indian Panorama section. The jury for International Competition includes chairperson Shekhar Kapur along with Michael Radford from UK, Julia Jentsch from Germany, Israel based Palestinian filmmaker Suha Arraf, and Jeon Kyu-Hwan from South Korea," said the minister.

IFFI, in collaboration with the International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT), Paris and Unesco will be presenting the ICFT-Unesco Fellini Prize to a film which reflects the ideals of peace, tolerance, non-violence and friendship promoted by Unesco. IFFI 2015 will also be conducting a special seminar on Film and Cultural diversity.

The Indian Panorama will have films from different languages and states. The 13-member Feature jury for selection was headed by chairperson, Aribam Syam Sharma while the seven-member Non-Feature jury was led by chairperson Rajendra Janglay.

This year, the section 'Focus on North East Cinema' will have a Special Retrospective on Sharma, an eminent filmmaker, actor and music composer from Manipur, along with a unique segment featuring next generation filmmakers from the northeast region.

Commencing a special feature this year, the festival in association with the Oscar Academy, will organize master classes with Academy members Mark Mangini, Milt Shefter and Humphrey Dixon on varied topics like sound designing, film archive and film editing.

"IFFI will also recognise young talent of cinema through the 'First Cut' section," said Jaitley. The section would feature emerging filmmakers including Brian Perkins ("Golden Kingdom", US), Michael Klette ("Solness", Germany) and Piotr Chrzan ("Moskvich-My Love", Poland).

In a special series titled 'In Conversation', Indian filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Vettrimaran, Kaushik Ganguli and Anand L. Rai will be present to discuss films and the art of filmmaking with the audience.

IFFI 2015 will feature a special section 'World Cinema Restored Classics' to highlight the idea of film restoration. The fest will also have a package of classics to put the spotlight on the National Film Heritage Mission.