MUMBAI: Goa is all set to hold 38th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI). A total of 3500 delegates have registered for the same.
Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat apprised the media of the arrangements for smooth conduct of IFFI-2007. Kamat said, “Infrastructure for the Festival has been improved and altogether a seating capacity of around 4000 is available in nine different theatres.”
He said that so far around 3500 delegates have registered, of which about 1400 are Goa-based. The number is likely to go up, he said. Of the 300 media persons who have registered so far, around 80 are from Goa. With a view to have a properly regulated system, ticketing system for media and delegates has been introduced, which is expected to help delegates and media persons plan their choice of film shows in advance and would reduce waiting in Queues. Fifteen ticketing booths have been set up, and one will be exclusively for the media.
He allayed media apprehensions about the newly introduced ticketing system and expressed confidence that it would effectively tackle the issue of long waits for entering the cinema hall.
DFF director Neelam Kapur said that the response from the film industry was enthusiastic. The French Embassy is also participating in the Festival.
The various segments of the IFFI-2007 are as follows:
The Palme D’ OR winner of Cannes 2007- titled 4 months, 3 weeks & 2 day would be the opening film at the Festival which gets underway on November 23. Noted film actor Shahrukh Khan will be the Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony which will be attended by Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri P. R. Dasmunsi and Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Digambar Kamat besides several important film personalities. The inaugural lamp will be lit with the assistance of Priyamani, the rising star of southern cinema.
Indian Panorama at IFFI – 2007 would present a bouquet of 36 films, 21 features and 15 non-feature films. Budhadeb Dasgupta will be the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony. A specialized competition for feature films by Asian, African and Latin American Directors is being organized. Fourteen films have been selected from 13 countries for the competition. Competition Jury is headed by the eminent award winning film maker from Hungary Ms Marta Mazaros. A special section celebrating 60 years of India’s independence, India @ 60, would showcase seven patriotic films including three feature and four documentaries.
