CM conceptualises 30th KIFF theme song; 175 films from 41 nations to be screened
KOLKATA: If Germany is the theme country for the Kolkata Book Fair, France takes the spotlight at the 30th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). The festival will kick off on December 4 at 4 pm at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, moving from its usual venue, Netaji Indoor Stadium. To be held till December 11, KIFF will screen 175 films from 41 countries. Tapan Sinha’s iconic ‘Golpo Holeo Shotyi’ has been selected as the opening film, while the closing ceremony will be held at Rabindra Sadan.
This year’s theme is ‘World cinema meets Bengal’s soil’ and the theme song of the fest has been conceptualised by CM Mamata Banerjee. Nachiketa has written and sung the track.
As reported by Millennium Post earlier, the festival will pay centenary tributes to Tapan Sinha, Marlon Brando, Marcello Mastroianni, Harisadhan Dasgupta, Arundhati Devi, Madan Mohan, Talat Mahmood, Bansi Chandragupta, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Sergei Parajanov.
“175 films, including 48 short films and documentaries, were selected from 2,459 entries. Screenings will be held across 20 venues in Kolkata,” said sports minister Aroop Biswas at the press meet at Rabindra Sadan on Friday. Tourism minister Indranil Sen highlighted various competition categories, including the International Competition for the coveted Royal Bengal Tiger Trophy and cash prizes. Other sections include competitions for Indian language films, the Asian Select NETPAC Award, and more.
Acclaimed filmmaker Goutam Ghose, chairman of the 30th KIFF, emphasised the intellectual appeal of this year’s edition, which includes seminars and interactive sessions with celebrated personalities like Vidya Balan. ‘Paa’ director R Balki will deliver the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture. Ghose’s latest film ‘Parikrama’ will have its Asian premiere at the fest. Nicolas Facino, director of Alliance Française du Bengale, expressed gratitude to the Bengal government for making France the focal country this year with a special spotlight on French women filmmakers through the screening of 21 movies. No Bangladeshi films will be screened.
