IFFI 2022 just opened in Goa and here is what, as a traveller and cinema buff, you should about know India’s premier film festival.
The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is back with its 53rd edition, which will be held in Goa, till November 28, 2022. The festival found a permanent home by the banks of the river Mandovi in Goa back in 2004, when the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar took the initiative, along with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of Government of India, to give a new identity to Asia’s oldest film festival. Since then, the festival is regularly held in the sunshine state, in the month of November.
It’s showtime at IFFI 2022!
The first edition of IFFI was held in 1952 in Bombay, as it was known then — this was just a year after the Berlin Film Festival started in 1951. Over the years, several prominent names from the world of cinema have graced Goa for IFFI, including Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Kim Ki-Duk, John Landis, Wong Kar-Wai, Ben Kingsley, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Jiří Menzel, and Lav Diaz, among several others.
Image: Shutterstock/Lloyd Vas.
While the 51st and 52nd editions — both held in 2021 — were rather low-key because of the pandemic, this year promises to bring the crowds back from across the country, as it did in the past. With the merger of the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the latter will be in charge of the festival along with the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG).
Here’s everything you wanted to know about the festival but didn’t know whom to ask.
Films to look forward to at IFFI 2022
Decision to leave (South Korea)
Winner of the Best Director at Cannes 2022, this is one of the best films by Park Chan-wook who already has films like Oldboy (2003) and The Handmaiden (2016) to his credit.
No Bears (Iran)
Director Jafar Panahi is banned from making films in Iran but still manages to make his presence felt. No Bears is a love story that won the Special Jury Prize at Venice this year.
Close (France, The Netherlands)
Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes this year, this film by Lukas Dhont was much talked about. It revolves around the friendship of two teenagers who go through testing times.
Saint Omer (France, Morocco)
Director Alice Diop has delivered two consecutive films that have received acclaim, We (2021) and this film that picked up three awards at the Venice Film Festival.
Triangle of Sadness (Sweden, France, United Kingdom)
Director Ruben Östlund has achieved a rare double of winning the Palm d’Or twice at the Cannes film festival with back-to-back films — first with The Square (2017) and then with Triangle of Sadness. This film though has divided opinions among audiences and critics alike.
Alcarràs (Spain, Italy)
The Spanish entry at the Academy Awards this year was also the winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Directed by Carla Simón, this family drama is set in a village in Spain.
The Novelist’s Film (South Korea)
Hong Sang-soo is an established name in world cinema and the director has won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize four times at Berlin, including one for this film. He has written, shot, edited, and produced this film, about a female novelist.
Aftersun (United Kingdom)
This debut feature of the Scottish writer/director Charlotte Wells has won more than a handful of awards at festivals around the globe. This is a coming-of-age story of a girl and her relationship with her father.
Hadinelentu (Kannada, India)
Prithvi Konanur has made a name for himself as one of the prominent independent filmmakers in the country. With two acclaimed films, Railway Children and Pinki Elli, Hadinelentu is his fourth feature and it premiered in Busan earlier this year.
Three of Us (Hindi, India)
Avinash Arun is known as a cinematographer of films like Masaan and Drishyam, who made a stunning debut as a director with the Marathi film Killa. Three of Us is his first Hindi feature film with Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat in lead roles.
Ancillary activities at IFFI 2022
Open-air screenings
For locals and tourists who want a glimpse of cinema, there are free open-air screenings that will be held at Joggers Park in Altinho, Miramar Beach, and Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. Usually, mainstream commercial films are screened here.
Festival Mile and Entertainment Zone
Along the promenade of the river Mandovi, starting from Kala Academy to the Old GMC Complex, there will be art installations, food stalls, and more. At the Entertainment Zone at the Bhagwan Mahavir Children’s Park, there will be live performances, music, local cuisine, and other activities which will be open to all.
Opening Film: Alma and Oskar (Austria, 110 minutes)
The opening film explores the passionate relationship between the Grand Dame of Viennese society Alma Mahler (1879-1964) and the famous Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980). Considered one of the greatest expressionist artists of the 20th century, Kokoschka created his most famous work using Alma as a model and she was also a composer.
Mid-fest film: Fixation (Canada, USA, Germany, 99 minutes)
Screened at the Toronto International Film festival, this film directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan is a psychological thriller. The story revolves around Dora, a young woman, who has been committed to an unorthodox institution for a crime she cannot remember.
Image: Shutterstock/Denis Makarenko.
Closing Film: Perfect Number (Poland, 85 minutes)
This will be the international premiere of the veteran and acclaimed Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi’s latest film. It is about a young mathematical genius David who discovers that a windfall awaits him. Zanussi has been the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at IFFI in 2012.
Competition films at IFFI 2022
The prize money offered in the competition section at IFFI is among the highest in the world, with the Golden Peacock (Best Film) winner taking home a cash prize of Rs 40 lakhs. The Silver Peacock will be awarded to Best Director, Best Actor, Actress, and a Special Jury Prize, among others.
Fifteen films, including three Indian, will be a part of the competition that includes the Persian film A Minor by veteran director Dariush Mehrjui; I Have Electric Dreams which won awards at the Locarno film festival; No End from Turkey which is edited by acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi; and Filipino auteur Lav Diaz’ When the Waves are Gone. TheIndian films are Anant Mahadevan’s The Story Teller, which is a tribute to Satyajit Ray, the Tamil film Kurangu Pedal, and The Kashmir Files.
Registration
Anyone above the age of 18 can register online at iffigoa.org. You can register either as a film professional or cine enthusiast. The fee is Rs 1,180, inclusive of GST. For students, registration for the festival is free of charge. The festival will be held in hybrid mode, which means limited content will be available online for a fee of Rs 200. Past experience shows that there isn’t enough interesting content online, so the physical mode is preferable.
Venues
With the renovation of Kala Academy underway, there are two venues with nine screens that will be used. INOX Panjim with four screens along with Maquinez Palace is located at the Old GMC Complex, Panjim, while INOX Porvorim at Mall De Goa will also be a part of the festival, making it a total of nine screens. There will be festival buses to ferry delegates to and fro. The main attraction will be the Old GMC complex where there will be food and drink stalls in the courtyard, lending the festival a unique vibe.
Day passes
If you don’t register as a delegate, you can still be a part of the festival by buying a ‘day pass’ from the counter at the Old GMC Complex. There are a limited number of such passes which get sold out very quickly in the morning, so you have to be on the money to get one.
Booking
While there is no extra fee for watching movies for delegates, they still have to book a ticket online through the website or the app, to watch a film. The booking starts two days earlier. So, to watch a film on November 22, you can book on the 20th and so on.
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