Stage all set for Iffi 2009

PANAJI: Come Monday and the curtains will rise on the 40th edition of the International Film Festival of India (Iffi), the longest-running film extravaganza of the country. Graded in the `A' category by the Paris-based Federation International de Producers de Films, the 11-day-long festival promises to enthral filmmakers and enthusiasts alike, said director of film festivals S M Khan at a press conference at Panaji on Saturday. While listing the events scheduled for Iffi '09, chief ministerDigambar Kamat said that the inaugural ceremony has been scheduled for Mondayevening at the Kala Academy, Panaji, and will be graced by veteran film actorWaheeda Rahman as chief guest and popular South Indian actress Asin Thottumkalas a special guest. Union minister for information and broadcasting Ambika Soniwill also be present. `Wheat', a Chinese film depicting the long and bloody warbetween the ancient Chinese states Qin and Zhao, has been chosen as the openingfilm of the festival. The festival will be inaugurated at the Ravindra Bhavan,Margao, on Tuesday. In a joint initiative by the ESG and theDirectorate of Film Festivals, a separate section called `Goa as a celluloiddestination' will be included. This segment will screen eight films of variouslanguages which have been shot in Goa in the past, in a bid to promote theshooting of films in the state. More than 55 films from around 47countries will be screened in the Cinema of the World section. A specializedcompetition for feature films from Asia, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africawill also be organized. Two Indian entries, Atanu Ghosh's Bengali film`Angshumaner Chobbi' and Satish Manwar's Marathi film `Gabricha Paus' have beenselected in the competition segment among 13 other films from Bangladesh,Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, Iran, Mexico, Peru, the Phillippines, South Korea,Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Argentina. Movies by UK-based director Gurinder Chadhawill be screened in the Foreign Retrospectives section. There willbe nine different segments devoted to Indian cinema. In all, 77 films will bescreened. `Paltadcho Monis', a Konkani film by award-winning Goan directorLaxmikant Shetgaonkar, will open the Indian Panorama segment wherein 26 featurefilms and 18 non-feature films will be screened. The Indian Premier section willshowcase eight films including `God lives in the Himalayas' by Sanjay Srinivas,and `Red Alert: The War Within' by Ananth Mahadevan. There will also be specialsections devoted to golden jubilee retrospectives and tributes to filmpersonalities who have passed away. The film festival will concludeon December 3 with the award of the golden and silver peacocks for the best filmand best director respectively, and the special jury awards. The Vasudha awardand the golden and silver lamp tree awards will be given to movies selected inthe short film segment. Malayalam movie star Mammootty will be the chief guestat the closing ceremony, while the Spanish movie `Broken Promises' will be theclosing film.