Kolkata Film Festival: 215 films from 39 countries, special tribute to Ritwik Ghatak
The 31st Kolkata International Film Festival brings together 39 countries under the theme ‘Where Cinema Connects the World’, featuring 215 films, a Poland focus and a special centenary tribute to cinema legend Ritwik Ghatak.
The 31st Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is scheduled to begin on Thursday, November 6 at the Dhono Dhanya Auditorium. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the week-long festival, which promises to be a cinematic extravaganza.
The festival will begin with the screening of the evergreen Bengali classic ‘Saptapadi’ (1961) starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. This year KIFF will also pay a special tribute to legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak on his birth centenary. Restored versions of six of the component films will be screened in various theaters in Kolkata from November 7 to 13, including ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’, ‘Komal Gandhar’ and ‘Suvarnarekha’.
The festival will showcase films from 39 countries, showcasing the diversity of global cinema. The Polish Focus section will highlight 19 notable films, and a special exhibition of Polish film posters will be displayed. Other highlights include:
- Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture – A conversation with Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Anup Singh on Ritwik Ghatak’s influence on cinema
- Cine Adda: A celebration of cinema and culture, ‘Gain Gain Cinema’.
- Guest list: Veteran stars like Sharmila Tagore, Sujoy Ghosh, Shatrughan Sinha and Ramesh Sippy are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony.
The inauguration ceremony will feature a dance performance by renowned dancer Donna Ganguly and will be hosted by Member of Parliament and actor June Mallya and actor Parambrata Chatterjee. Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly will start the celebrations by lighting the lamp.
This year’s film festival will screen 215 films selected from 39 countries including India. It consists of 185 full length films and 30 short films.
This year films from 18 Indian languages and 30 foreign languages will be shown. Films will be shown in various dialects including Konkani, Boro, Tulu, Santali. Like every year, this time too ‘Cine Adda’ will be organised, which the Chief Minister of the state has named ‘Gain Gaane Cinema’.
This year’s focus country is Poland. The theme is ‘Where Cinema Connects the World’.
