It’s that time of the year again when the city’s film-loving public gears up to brush up its knowledge of Felini and Bergman. And they are definitely looking forward to the 18th Kolkata Film Festival – to be inaugurated this year by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan – which will be held between 10 and 17 Nov.
The inaugural show promises to be a big event because of the presence of Big B and Shah Rukh Khan, now the brand ambassador of Bengal. Bachchan will be feted for giving Indian Cinema five decades of entertainment and also turning 70. The budget of the festival, it is learnt, will be around Rs 3 crore. The thali girl this year is going to be top Bengali actor, Koel Mullick.
Spanning eight days, the festival will showcase 160 films and feature works by 38 directors from 60 countries. Classics will be screen as well as modern greats from world cinema. This year, the festival will pay a special tribute to the departed Rajesh Khanna by screening Anand, an evergreen hit featuring the superstar. This year also marks 100 Years of Indian cinema. On the occasion, KFF will screening Dada Saheb Phalke’s memorable film Raja Harishchandra.
Another interesting feature will be a screening of films based on the works of Charles Dickens, like Pickwick Papers and Nicholas Nickleby. The inaugural screening will be the film, Nader and Simin A Separation, directed by Iranian filmmaker, Asghar Farhadi. Centenary tributes would be paid to Italian movie director Michelangelo Antonioni, 13 of whose creations would be showcased at the festival.
It is the second time that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is organising the film festival.
The inaugural show promises to be a big event because of the presence of Big B and Shah Rukh Khan, now the brand ambassador of Bengal. Bachchan will be feted for giving Indian Cinema five decades of entertainment and also turning 70. The budget of the festival, it is learnt, will be around Rs 3 crore. The thali girl this year is going to be top Bengali actor, Koel Mullick.
Spanning eight days, the festival will showcase 160 films and feature works by 38 directors from 60 countries. Classics will be screen as well as modern greats from world cinema. This year, the festival will pay a special tribute to the departed Rajesh Khanna by screening Anand, an evergreen hit featuring the superstar. This year also marks 100 Years of Indian cinema. On the occasion, KFF will screening Dada Saheb Phalke’s memorable film Raja Harishchandra.
Another interesting feature will be a screening of films based on the works of Charles Dickens, like Pickwick Papers and Nicholas Nickleby. The inaugural screening will be the film, Nader and Simin A Separation, directed by Iranian filmmaker, Asghar Farhadi. Centenary tributes would be paid to Italian movie director Michelangelo Antonioni, 13 of whose creations would be showcased at the festival.
It is the second time that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is organising the film festival.