June and Godakath among seven other films competing in PIFF's Marathi category, this year

The selection jury of the 19th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) has shortlisted seven films for competition in the festival's Marathi section. Among the seven films Gajendra Ahire's Godakath and Vaibhav Khisti - Suhrud Godbole's June will be the part of the competition.
PIFF jointly organized by Pune Film Foundation (PFF) and Government of Maharashtra has been announced.The festival will be held from March 11 to March 18, 2021. Dr. Jabbar Patel, Festival Director, PIFF announced the names of the films in the Marathi Competition categories along with the names of the jury members who will review the films this year. He also announced the Marathi Films (Non-Competition Category) during a press conference held today in the city.
Jabbar Patel said, “Since the jury is an important part of the festival, this year eight jury members from around the world will review the films." This year the festival will be organised in hybrid mode where delegates will be able to watch film in theatres and online. Amit Tyagi, Associate Director, MIT School of Film and TV, Samar Nakhate, Creative Director, PIFF, Satish Alekar and Dr. Mohan Agashe, Trustees of PIFF and Abhijeet Ranadive, Creative Head and Film Selection Committee Member, PIFF were present during the conference.

Vishal Shinde, deputy director of the PIFF said, “A total of 26 films will be screened online and this year we will be using a secured foreign platform called 'Shift 72', which has been used earlier in International Film Festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Toronto. Through this, viewers will be able to log in from one device only. Movies shown each day will be available to online viewers anytime for 24 hours and a link will be sent to the registered audience on their email. Through that, the identity of the spectator will be registered and there will be no risk of downloading or recording movies. PIFF has become the first international film festival in India to utilize this secured platform for the screening of the films."
He also explained the rules for those who would visit the cinema to watch movies. "Social distancing will be maintained to avoid crowding at the theatres. It will be mandatory for every spectator to follow the rules and undergo body temperature test and use sanitizer.”
Amit Tyagi said, “Due to the pandemic, we will not be able to hold the annual 'Student Film' competition. But this year, we have invited atleast 2-3 films from each of the 6 different organizations including Pune's Film and Television, MIT Film and Television School, SRFTI, Kolkata, Whistling Woods, Mumbai, Jerusalem Film School, Israel and Inkas Film School, Brazil, which will be shown. The films with a duration of 15 to 20 minutes deals with issues ranging from middle class life in Pune to national and international issues.”
The names of the Marathi Competition films are as follows-
1. Poraga Majetay (Director- Makarand Mane)
2. Firastya (Director- Vitthal Machindra Bhosale)
3. FUN’ERAL (Director- Vivek Dubey)
4. June (Directors- Vaibhav Khisti and Suhrud Godbole)
5. Godakaath (Director- Gajendra Ahire)
6. Kalokhachya Parambhya (Director- Makarand Anaspure)
7. Tak - Tak (Director- Vishal Kudale)
The names of the Marathi Cinema Today (Non -Competition) are as follows-
1. GOTT (Director- Shailendra Krishna)
2. Taath Kana (Director- Girish Mohite)
3. Kandil (Director- Mahesh Kand)
4. MAY FLY (Director- Kiran Nirmal)
5. Jeevanacha Gondhal (Director- Prashant Dattatray Pandekar)
The Jury names are as follows –
1. Gyorgy Baron (Film Critic, Hungary)
2. Mania Akbari (Filmmaker, Iran)
3. Lisa Ray (Actress, Canada)
4. Luong Dinh Dung (Producer, Writer and Filmmaker, Vietnam)
5. Andrej Kosak (Filmmaker, Slovenia)
6. Goran Radovanovic (Writer and Filmmaker, Serbia)
7. A Sreekar Prasad (Editor, India)
8. Suman Mukhopadhyay (Filmmaker, India)