IFFI gets a grand opening

IFFI gets a grand opening

Amidst the controversy surrounding the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the grand opening ceremony was still a star-studded affair. Held at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, the event saw Shah Rukh Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Sridevi and Boney Kapoor, AR Rahman, Anupam Kher, Nitesh Tiwari, Prasoon Joshi, Rajkummar Rao, Radhika Apte, Diana Penty, and Nana Patekar lending their support.

Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles, and Information & Broadcasting, Smriti Irani while addressing the opening ceremony, said, “India is a land of festivals, celebrations, dynamic youth and stories, where stories are told in over 1,600 dialects.” Elaborating, she said that the endeavour of the Government of India through IFFI is to invite filmmakers from all over the world to the land of stories. “The festival will help film lovers meet the biggest and brightest names of Indian film industry,” she added.

SRK, while welcoming all filmmakers and delegates to IFFI 2017, said that films are about loving, about an idea transformed into reality by hundreds of people working together. He further said, “Story tellers and story listeners are like a family and stories have the power to bind each and every one together.”

The opening ceremony was anchored by Rajkummar Rao and Radhika Apte. and Shahid Kapoor, who was seemingly unhappy about the deferred release of his film Padmavati, said he was proud to represent the “brave” film fraternity. “From running in fields full of mutlicolour flowers to making films on women empowerment, I think Indian cinema has come a long way. I am very proud of this fraternity, the new generation, which is allowing this change to happen and brave people making brave films, sometimes at a great cost,” he said.

The opening ceremony was followed by the screening of Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s first film made in India, Beyond the Clouds. The film’s star cast - Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan were also present at the event. Sridevi’s daughter Jhanvi Kapoor was also spotted.
The 48th IFFI will showcase the best of recent international cinema, along with special sections such as Retrospectives, BRICS Award-Winning films, Homages and and Indian Panorama Section featuring the best of Indian Cinema produced in the past year, with the aim of providing a platform for young creative minds to interact, view and learn.

The festival will showcase 195 films from over 82 countries of which there will be 10 world premieres, 10 Asian and International premieres and over 64 Indian premieres. The International Competition section of IFFI 2017 will have 15 films competing for the Golden and Silver Peacock awards. The International Competition jury is headed by renowned filmmaker Muzaffar Ali and other jury members include Maxine Williamson from Australia, actor-director Tzahi Grad from Israel, Russian cinematographer Vladislav Opelyants, director and production designer Roger Christian from the United Kingdom. The festival is on till November 27.

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