The international film fest will screen 179 movies from across the world.
The Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) will begin on December 15 with a slew of internationally acclaimed films.
This eight-day-long festival will have movie screenings, seminars, presentations and master classes by experts. It would conclude on December 22. Veteran actor Om Puri, Anant Nag—one of the greatest actors in the Kannada film industry—and Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui would be the guests of honour.
Announcing this at the Vartha Soudha on Monday, HN Narahari Rao, artistic director of the fest, said political cinema would be the overriding theme of this edition, which will screen 179 movies.
Nine films, including The Battle of Algiers (Algeria), Z (France, Algeria), Thaneer Thaneer (Tamil), Interrogation (Poland), Downfall (Germany), Lemon Tree (Israel), Air India 182 (Canada), Mao’s Last Dancer (Australia), and The Whistleblower (Germany/ Canada), will be screened under the political cinema category.
A few of these films are considered controversial in the country of their origin, and thus are banned. For instance, Polish film Interrogation, directed by Ryszard Bugajski, is based on a true story about the Stalinist terror of the early 1950s. It was banned under martial law in Poland and only became available on underground VHS through a copy smuggled out by the director at great risk, Rao said.
FIPRESCI- and NETPAC-award-winning movies like Of Gods and Men (France) and Daughter… Father… Daughter (Iran) are also highlights of the festival, organised and conducted by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy.
Kannada flicks
Under the international competition category, 14 films would be screened, and under Asian competition, 11 films would be screened. Nine Kannada movies would be screened as well. Poland and Egypt are the countries that would see special focus this time; 10 critically acclaimed films from the region would be screened.
Films by directors Hsiao Hsien Hou, Theo Angelopoulos, Michael Cacoyannis, Dariush Mehrjui, G Aravindan and Puttana Kanagal are going to be screened as part of retrospectives.
Nanna Gopala, Gandhi Smiles, Puttakkana Highway, Hejjegalu, Prarthane, Shabdhamani, Olave Mandara, Chintu School, and Super are the Kannada films that will be screened.
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