Kolkata: Kolkata’s cinephiles have a packed week ahead as the 14th Festival of 5 Continents brings a wide spectrum of international and Indian cinema to the city, with restored classics of Goutam Ghose forming one of its biggest highlights.
Organised by the Forum for Film Studies and Allied Arts in collaboration with the NEZ Foundation, the festival will be held at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium, Rabindranath Tagore Centre (ICCR), Ho Chi Minh Sarani, from February 23 to March 1, 2026.
The seven-day line-up features films from 15 foreign countries alongside Indian independent cinema and special sections. Among the international titles is 9 (Uruguay, 2022), to be screened on opening day after the inauguration. The film follows Christian, a rising football star struggling with isolation, media pressure and expectations managed by his father. Finland’s Long Good Thursday (2024) explores unexpected love in later life, while Mexico’s Lepes (2025) centres on a lonely boy navigating childhood and longing. From Morocco, Everybody Loves Touda (2024) tells the story of a woman who dreams of becoming a Cheikha and singing boldly about resistance and emancipation.
The festival also includes works from Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Greece, Poland, Germany, Italy, Venezuela, South Korea, Argentina, the Dominican Republic and Spain.
A tribute section is dedicated to Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima, with screenings of Pleasures of the Flesh (1965) and Sing a Song of Sex (1967). The Panorama of Indian Independent Cinema features films including Theatre: The Myth of Reality (2025), Sthal (2023), Sannyasi Deshonayok (2023), Juddhajoyer Kabita (2025), Angamaal (2024) and Before Spring (2025).
A major attraction will be the retrospective of National Film Award-winning auteur Goutam Ghose. Restored versions of Paar, Patang, Dekha, Abar Aranye, Shunyo Anko, Shankhachil and Raahgir are scheduled across the week.
The documentary Moving Focus (2022), centred on Ghose’s body of work, will also be screened. With restored Bengali classics, contemporary Indian narratives and films from across continents sharing the same screen, the festival promises seven days of cinematic travel without leaving the city.