28th KIFF Introduces New Section On Sports, Retrospective & Exhibition On Amitabh Bachchan

For the first time in 28 years, Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is being held twice a year. To be inaugurated on December 15 in the presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Bengal Governor Dr. CV Ananda Bose, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Sourav Ganguly, Jaya Bachchan, TMC MP-actor Shatrughan Sinha, Mahesh Bhatt, Rani Mukerji, Kumar Sanu and Arijit Singh at Netaji Indoor Stadium, the 28th KIFF will screen 183 movies from 42 countries including 130 feature films and 52 shorts and documentaries. In May 2022, the 27th edition of the film fest in physical format was held after a hiatus of two years due to Covid-19.

On Saturday, at a press meet at Sisir Mancha, West Bengal minister Aroop Biswas, who is also the chief advisor of KIFF, introduced the new section - Game On, which will promote films celebrating sports. Ranveer Singh's much acclaimed '83, Aamir Khan's Dangal, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, SRK's Chak De India, National Award-winning Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Priyanka Chopra-starrer Mary Kom and Saroj Dey's Koni starring the veteran Soumitra Chatterjee will be screened.

"231 shows will be screened at 10 venues. Game On is dedicated to sports and youth," said Biswas. The press meet also saw the presence of minister Indranil Sen, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Raj Chakraborty, chairperson of 28th KIFF, Santanu Basu, director general of KIFF, minister Birbaha Hansda, TMC MLA June Malia and thaali girl Rukmini Maitra.

"It wasn't an easy task to organize two film festivals in a year. CM Mamata Banerjee constantly enquires about the happenings throughout the process," said Raj Chakraborty.

From the inaugural film being Abhimaan (1973), retrospective of nine films, to an exhibition on the living legend, this year, KIFF celebrates Big B and his cinematic journey like no other. KIFF also pays homage to Jean Luc Godard, one of the leading figures of the French new wave, who passed away in September 2022. Acclaimed director Sudhir Mishra will deliver the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lector on understanding cinema in changing times of OTT.

Centenary tribute is being paid to Alain Resnais, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michael Cacoyannis, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Asit Sen, Bharati Devi, K Asif, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Dilip Kumar. Prosenjit announced that special tribute is being paid to veteran Bengali filmmaker Tarun Majumdar, alongside Jana Aranya actor Pradip Mukherjee, who breathed his last in 2022.

"I have been watching movies at Kolkata film festival since it's inception. But now, the scale and grandeur of the fest has increased manifold. KIFF is a good platform for aspiring filmmakers and artistes," said the 'Autograph' actor.

Sen said how the Kolkata film fest had attained its "international" flavour after chief minister Mamata Banerjee took over the reins of the state in 2011.

Joyland, Pakistan's official Oscar entry for 2023, will be screened in the Cinema International section.

Minister Birbaha Hansda was elated to announce seven films in the Unheard India: Rare Language Film section, including Dharti Latar Re Horo in Santhali.

Bangladeshi film Hawa, which has created a rage already, will have a special screening at Nandan on December 16. Millennium Post had earlier reported that the Chanchal Chowdhury-starrer would hit theatres commercially on the same day in Bengal. Goutam Ghosh's docu-feature Mujib in Calcutta will also have a special screening.

The closing ceremony will be held at Rabindra Sadan on December 22 at 6.30 pm.