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The 35th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2004) is being held in Goa from 29th November to 9th December, 2004. The Festival is being organized by Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India in collaboration with Government of Goa and Indian Film Industry.
During the Festival, as many as 169 Films from 55 countries will be screened under various sections like the Asian Competition, Cinema of the World and Foreign Retrospective. The opening Film at the IFFI- 2004 will be ‘Vanity Fair’ directed by Ms. Mira Nair and the US film ‘Alexander’, directed by Oliver Stone shall be the closing Film.A highlight of the Festival will be the Asian Competition section. The section will present the latest cinematic trends in Asia and would be screened before an International Jury of 5 members.
The Indian Panorama seeks to showcase the Indian Cinema at the Festival. Twenty-one Feature Films and twenty non- Feature Films which have been selected by a selection panel of eminent film personalities will be screened under this section. This section opens with two screenings- ‘Saanjh’( non- feature film) directed by a FTII student Jesmin Kaur, and ‘Manasarovar’, an English language film by Anup Kurian on 30th November, 2004.
Twelve popular Indian Films released during 2003-2004 will also be screened during the Festival under the Mainstream Indian Cinema. This section will open with the Hindi film- ‘Munnabhai MBBS’.
The section on Retrospective/ Country Focus/ Workshop will include various packages of films which will try to reflect the rich cultural flavour arising from the social milieus of different countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and Canada. Ashok Amritraj is one of the most successful film producer of Indian origin in Hollywood. IFFI is honouring him by screening 5 of his films. The film ‘Raising Helen’ will be a premier show in India. Vittorio Gassman was one of the most popular and versatile stars in Italy for over 40 years. As a homage to him, IFFI is screening 6 of his films. Again, IFFI is screening 4 of the films of Jean-Marie Gaston Kabore, the director, producer and a script writer from Burkino Faso. Four films of Jerzy Stuhr, an actor, director of theatre and cinema from Poland will be screened during the festival. Hubert Bals Fund is designed to bring remarkable or urgent feature films and feature length creative documentaries by innovative and talented filmmakers from developing countries closer to fulfillment. As a honor to this organization, IFFI-2004 is screening seven HBF films. Under German Films, IFFI is screening eight films in this section. These eight films are German films but special feature is that the films are made in Baveria. As a country showcase, IFFI is also screening five films each from Canada, Australia, Egypt and Portugal, six films from Taiwan.
Under the Indian Retrospective/ Homage section, Films of Yash Johar, Nargis Dutt, Mehmood. Soundarya, Vijayanand, Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia will be screened.
Cine Celebrities including actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, choreographers and associated other technical personnel not only from India but from across the globe will enhance the spirit of the Festival by their presence. Some of these include Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Shyam Benegal and Karan Johar. International Celebrities who are expected to attend the Festival include Oscar Award winner Robert Bilheimer and Mr. Florian Gallenberger, who will be a member of Jury, Juan Gerard, Darell James Roodt, Denish Boivin, Xiaolian Peng, Karen Shakhnazarov etc.
For the first time a new interactive workshop for young people has been introduced called 24X7 in which an opportunity will be provided to participants within 24 years of age, to conceive, shoot and edit their items. Digital video cameras will be given everyday during the Festival to the selected participants along with editing systems to edit their films which has to be finished within 24 hours. These short films will be screened during the Festival and the best would be awarded at the closing ceremony.
An animation Workshop has also been arranged for the school children of Goa between the age group of 7 and 14 to acquaint them with the technique of animation film making.
The Golden Peacock Award will be given for the ‘Best Film’ by an Asian Director while the Silver Peacock will be given for the most promising Asian Director. A special Jury Award will be given to the director of a Film for his individual artistic contribution. This section will consist of a cash price of Rs. 500,000 ( Golden Peacock), Rs. 250,000 ( Silver Peacock) and Rs. 250,000 (Special Jury Award) respectively, a madal and a certificate. The Jury is headed by the noted Indian Film Director, Shri Mani Ratnam and its other members are Mr. Florian Gallenberger (German Film maker), Mr. Mahmood Kabil ( leading actor from Egypt), Ms. Irene Bignar( Italian Director) and Mr. Moussa Sena Absa ( Director, Writer and Actor from Senegal).
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