Kolkata, Oct 28 (PTI) A total of 215 films from 39 countries will be screened at the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), which will be held from November 6-13 at 21 theatres across Kolkata, state minister Aroop Biswas said on Tuesday.
The inauguration, which will be attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, will take place on November 6 with the screening of the timeless Bengali classic ‘Saptapadi’ (1961), starring matinee idol Uttam Kumar and film diva Suchitra Sen, as the inaugural film.
The other guests at the inauguration event will be announced soon.
Of the 215 films — there will be 185 full-length feature works and 30 short films — in 18 Indian languages and 30 foreign languages.
Nineteen Polish films will be screened, with the European nation being the focus country this year.
The ‘Unheard India’ section will feature eight films in “not so widely spoken Indian languages” to highlight the ‘Unity in Diversity’ theme, Biswas said.
In the ‘Centenary Tribute’ section, directors Ritwik Ghatak, Richard Burton, Salil Chowdhury and Raj Khosla will be remembered, Biswas’ ministerial colleague and Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs Indranil Sen said.
Ghatak’s timeless ‘Ajantrik’, ‘Komol Ghandhar’, ‘Titas Ekti Nadir Naam’ and ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ will be screened in the section.
In the ‘Special Tribute’ section, films by Robert Bedford, Shyam Benegal and Arun Roy, among others, will be screened.
The landmark Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture will be held on November 7 where legendary Bollywood director Ramesh Sippy will be the special guest. Fifty years of ‘Sholay’, a film which created history, will be observed in the presence of Sippy. PTI SUS ACD
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