20th film festival prepares for a starry and musical opening

KOLKATA: In its 20th year “KIFF is bigger than before”, the authorities have announced on the net. Roaring into cinematic action before the Kolkata press, those on the dais asked the press to check out the details on the net. And the result? International Competition in films by Women Directors shows four stills, rest blank. Asian Select section, which vies for the NETPAC award, shows ‘Lajwanti', 'Memories on Stone’, ‘Vara — a Blessing’, ‘Monk’, ‘Unlucky Plaza’, ‘Men Who Save the World’, ‘The Move’ and ‘The Inseminator’.Centenary Tribute has three stills. Retrospective — blank. New Horizon — blank. Special Screening — blank. Arab Focus — blank. Great Masters — blank. Cinema International — blank...
In fact, sketchy as the information shared at the press conference was, it still proved more than that on kff.in.
For one, it was revealed that Amitabh Bachchan will inaugurate the festival at Netaji Indoor — along with wife Jaya, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya. Sharing the stage will be the state’s brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan and actors Deepika Padukone and Irrfan. A special guest this year will be Tanuja, the grand lady who lives in Bengali viewers’ heart through films like ‘Antony Firinghee’ and ‘Teen Bhubaner Parey’.
The inaugural performance by percussionists Bickram Ghosh, Tejendra Narayan, Rashid Khan and Usha Uthup will toast world cinema. Inaugurating the festival will be the Italian film, ‘Italo Barocco’ (2014), directed by Alessia Scarso. It unfolds “the tender friendship between a lonely boy and an extraordinary dog that taught a whole village about being human (IMDB).”
KIFF, held in a city celebrated in cinema around the world, offers the best of two worlds: it is a festival of films awarded in cinema bastions like Cannes, Berlin and Venice. Now, additionally, it instils the competitive spirit. If this is dubbed as the quintessential film experience, it also explains why such legendary filmmakers as Miguel Littin (Chile), Fernando Solanos (Argentina), Krzysztof Zanussi (Poland), Amos Gitai (Israel), Catherine Breillat (France), Nury Bilge Cylan (Turkey), Jafar Panahi and Tahmina Milani (both from Iran) have graced the earlier editions.
This year too, Niki Karimi of Iran will be in Kolkata as part of the five-member jury for the International Competition. The first star of Iranian cinema post-1979 Revolution, Niki Karimi will also feature in the New Horizon section with seven films featuring her, either as the lead actress or as director. These are — ‘Two Women’, ‘The Fifth Reaction’, ‘Sara’, ‘Playmate’, ‘I Am His Wife’, ‘One Night’ and ‘The Final Whistle’. The films highlight Iranian women’s struggle to protect their rights that are often tweaked by patriarchs to their own advantage.
The jury will be headed by Pual Cox, a veteran of 30-odd films (features and shorts included). Born in 1940 in Netherlands, Cox had migrated to Australia in 1965 where he made films like ‘Illumination’ (1976), ‘Lonely Hearts’ (1982), ‘Cactus’ (1986), ‘The Nun and the Bandit’ (1992), ‘Diaries of Nijinsky’ (2001) and ‘Salvation’ (2008). In 2009, he underwent a liver transplant following which he has made ‘Force of Destiny’ featuring Indian actress Shahana Goswami.
The lone Indian on the jury, Amol Palekar, is known for his sensitive portrayal of women in films he directed in Hindi, Marathi and English. Popular actor in films like ‘Golmaal’, ‘Chhoti Si Baat’, ‘Chitchor’, activist in avant garde theatre, and a trained painter, Palekar has consistently highlighted issues such as sexuality (‘Daayera’, ‘Anaahat’, ‘The Quest’), girl child’s education (‘Kairee’), superstitious killings (‘Akriet’), and Alzheimer’s (‘Dhoosar’).
As many as 72 films were entered for the competition. The 15 titles that have been shortlisted for the jury include ‘A Place Called Home’, ‘40 Days of Silence’, ‘Chhoti Moti Batein’ and ‘City Delirium’. The 20th KIFF promises to be a coming of age event when the Best Film and Best Director will proudly claim the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger, designed by the state’s leading sculptors. Along with a cash prize that will be the highest in the country, perhaps in the world. And what’s that amount? “To be revealed on November 10,” we’re told. Wasn’t the amount of $85000 and $35000 mentioned in an earlier report? Sush!!
Bringing to screen 137 feature films and 118 shorts from 60 countries, KIFF celebrates the Birth Centenary of J Lee Thompson (‘Guns of Navarone’), Robert Wise (‘Sound of Music’), and ‘Ajoy Kar’ (Jighangsa). The Special Homage brings to screen seven Suchitra Sen starrers — ‘Agni Pariksha’, ‘Harano Sur’, ‘Chaoa Paowa’, ‘Megh Kalo’, Bimal Roy’s ‘Devdas’, and Gulzar’s ‘Aandhi’.
The Retrospective section brings to Kolkata Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming Liang, whose films have won a Golden Lion at Venice, or a Silver Bear at Berlin, or a FIPRESCI award at Cannes... He will be accompanied by his long-term actor Lee Kang Sheng, who himself has recently turned director. These are some of the 40 international guests expected at KIFF. The national names include director Shaji Karun, actor-director Nitish Bharadwaj, director Sujoy Ghosh, composer Shantanu Moitra, documentary filmmaker and restorer Shivendra Dungarpurkar. Many of these guests will participate in interactions, discussions, seminars that will be held every day of the seven day event at Nandan.
Two bonus features have been introduced at 20th KIFF. One, a section on short and documentary films — and this too is competitive. Two, a Bengali Panorama, where five new Bengali films will have their world premiers. These are ‘Char Adhyay’; Anindya Chatterjee’s ‘Jhumura’, on the love and passion of Jhumur artistes; ‘Selfie’, featuring Soumitra Chatterjee; ‘The Kite’ and ‘Cloud of Daughter’.
And yes, the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture will have Govind Nihalani talking about Indian Cinema’s Journey Beyond the Century. The festival authorities on the dais on Saturday included Ranjit Mullick, Dipankar De, Goutam Ghose, principal secretary Atri Bhattacharya and Yadab Mondal, director KIFF.