IFFI 2009 to focus on Latin American and European cinema

The 40th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which kick starts on November 23 in Goa, will focus on films from European countries like Italy, France and Estonia.

The 10-day long festival which will culminate on December 3, will highlight cinema from Latin America under its 'Continent Focus' section while the 'Country Focus' section will exhibit films from European nations.

Thirteen films from all over the world would be showcased under the Competition section, which will also include two Indian films, SM Khan, director of the Directorate of Film Festivals (DIFF) told reporters here.

The prestigious event, which is being held in Goa in association with Entertainment Society of Goa, consists of various categories like 'Cinema of the World', 'Country Focus' 'Continent Focus', 'Digital Films' and 'Classics'.

Under the Indian films section, it has categories like 'Indian Panorama', 'Tributes', 'Retrospective', 'Indian Premiers' and 'Spoof Cinema'.

"Under the 'Tributes' section, IFFI 2009 will show films of those personalities who have passed away in the last one year like film makers Shakti Samanta and Prakash Mehra, actor-director Firoz Khan, and lyricist Gulshan Bawra.

"The exhibition of their films would be preceded by a talk to be delivered by film personalities who were associated with them and their work," said Khan. The festival will also show two films each of veteran filmmakers like Soumitra Chatterjee, Asha Parekh and Sharmila Tagore, who completed their 50 years in the film industry.

Actor Kamal Hassan who too completed 50 years in filmdom could not be included in the section due to technical reasons but a retrospective of his films would be arranged by DIFF soon after IFFI, sources in the ministry said.

The 'Retrospective' section will include films by British Indian film maker Gurinder Chaddha.

In the 'Cinema of the World' section, 55 films from 45 countries will be shown in the festival, Khan said.

Films like Red Alert (Hindi), Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu ( Hindi), Vimukti (Kannada), Once Again and God Lives In Himalayas, will be premiered during the festival.

Documentaries made by Films Division on eminent music luminaries like Ustad Alauddin Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Mohammad Rafi and Manna Dey will also be shown, Khan said.