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The 21st Kolkata International Film Festival to open on November 14

| | Nov 16, 2015, at 08:46 pm
Kolkata, November 16 (IBNS) – The 21st Kolkata International Film Festival will throw its doors open on November 14 at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in the presence of Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal. Luminaries from Indian cinema gracing the occasion are Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Moushumi Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore who this year, is chairing the International Jury to award the trophy to the Best Women Director this year.

The KIFF which is a competitive festival and instituted the Royal Bengal Tiger Award last year, will give away the award this year too to the Best Film and the Best Director with a focus on films directed by women.

 

The Festival will feature 149 films from 61 countries in 15 categories to be screened across 12 locations in the city.

 

One of the greatest attractions of the screening programme is Carlos Saura’s Zonda folclore arrgentina, which happens to be the latest work of the Spanish master.

 

Among the international award-winning films this year will be Jafar Panahi’s Iranian drama Taxi which bagged the Golden Bear and the FIPRESCI Prize this year at the Berlin International Film Festival, Tsai Ming-liang’s Afternoon that was screened at the Venice International Film Festival this year and Alexander Sokurov’s Francofoina that was part of the main competition at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.

 

Other attractions are Mia Madre by Nanni Moretti, Yakuza Apocalyse – The Great War of the Undersworld  by Takeshi Miike, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assasin, Andreas Dresen’s As We Were Dreaming, Kim Ki  Duk’s Stop and Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani premiered at the Busan International Film Festival’s Window to Asian Cinema.

 

The inaugural ceremony will be enriched by a unique audio-visual presentation conceived by Bickram Ghosh. Other celebrated talents participating in the programme are Ustad Rashid Khan, sarod master Pt. Tejemdra Narauan Mazumdar, saxophonist George Brooks and percussionist Taufiq Quereshi. Percussionist Ratul Shankar has composed the theme music for the 21st KIFF.

 

(Reporting by Shoma A. Chatterji)

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