Scaled down KIFF this year

The 27th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) to be held from January 7 to 14 will be a scaled down affair with the authorities deciding to hold the usually grand inaugural function in the virtual mode due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.

West Bengal Minister of State for Culture Indranil Sen told a press meet on Tuesday that there will be 50 per cent occupancy at the 10 venues in the city where KIFF will be held.

The ten venues are the three auditoria in the Nandan complex, Rabindra Sadan, Sisir Mancha, two auditoria of Nazrul Tirtha, Raindra Okakura Bhavan, Chalachitra Satabarsha Bhavan and Kolkata Information Centre Conference Hall where all COVID-19 protocols will be in place, he said.

''We will organise the 27th edition of KIFF on the lines of the 26th one when the festival had to be stripped off its grandeur that was seen till 2019. The halls will not accommodate more than 50 per cent of their total capacity during any screening - either special screening or for the film loving audiences,'' he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the festival on the virtual mode from state secretariat on January 7 and Satyajit Ray classic 'Aranyer Din Ratri' will be screened as the inaugural film at Rabindra Sadan with 50 per cent capacity.

Total 161 films, including 46 from 41 foreign countries, will be screened in 200 shows on the eight days of the film festival, Sen said.

With Finland being the focus country of KIFF this time six works of contemporary Finnish cinema will be screened and one film from that country will vie for honour at the competition section.

Of the 46 foreign films to be shown at KIFF this year, 23 are contemporary made between 2019 and 2021 from countries including Iran and Italy besides Finland, he said.

The 161 films include 103 feature films and the rest 58 are short and documentary films.

There will be discussion on films by Ray as a tribute in the centenary year of the maestro besides the annual Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture, which will be delivered by film maker Shoojit Sircar on January 11.

Thirteen artistes, including cinematographers who had worked with Ray will be felicitated on January 8 at Rabindra Sadan. ''We had invited many but due to the pandemic situation 13 have confirmed participation so far, he said.

Actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay, who is one of the office bearers of festival committee, said the Royal Bengal Tiger trophy will be given in the best film, best direction categories for foreign films in the competition section.

In the national competition category the Hiralal Sen Memorial Trophy will be given for the best film and best director segments.

There will also be best short film and best documentary film categories.

Apart from exhibitions on the life and works of Satyajit Ray, there will be exhibitions as special tribute to Chidananda Dasgupta, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Dilip Kumar and Swatilekha Sengupta, he said.

Theatre personality Bratya Basu's directorial 'Dictionary' which had been omitted from the list of screened films in 2021 IFFI and triggered controversy, will be screened in the KIFF this time.