Rich spread of films in January

Bangalore: It's again time for the true-blue movie buffs in Bangalore to cheer. A rich spread of 90 films from 40 countries across the world will be showcased as part of the 3rd Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFF) from January 16 to 22, 2009.
Featuring works of international masters, retrospectives and a showcase on Kannada cinema, the festival will be organized by Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy, in association with the state government.The festival will be inaugurated on January 15 at Chowdiah Memorial Hall.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, academy chairman V N Subba Rao said the festival will be spread across six screens (three at Vision Cinemas, one at the K H Patil auditorium on K H Road, one at Badami House and one at Suchitra, Banashankari 2nd Stage). "The organizers are trying their best not to compromise on the scale of the festival, in the backdrop of global recession and possibilities of lean sponsorship. The festival, planned on a budget of about Rs 70 lakh, has government allocation of Rs 25 lakh." he said.
Kannada flavour
The festival will have a strong local flavour to mark 75 years of the Kannada film industry, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce chairman Jaimala said. B S Ranga, the 95-year-old doyen of Kannada cinema, will be honoured on the last day. Landmark Kannada films are expected to be screened at Badami House, N R Square.
Three Kannada films picked for the Indian Panorama at the upcoming Indian International Film Festival at Goa -- Girish Kasaravalli's `Gulabi Talkies', Umashankar Swamy's `Banada Neralu' and Abhay Simha's `Gubbachhigalu' -- will be screened at the festival. A warm-up seminar and 35 films on the DVD format are other highlights. Festival executive director N Vidyashankar said BIFF was being designed to ensure it is a forum for foreign delegates to get exposed to Kannada cinema.
The delegate passes will be priced Rs 500 (for the entire festival) and students and film society members can get passes at Rs 300. For details, call 26711785.