Kolkata International Film Festival

Kolkata International Film Festival

Kolkata International Film Festival, the second oldest film festival of the country, is a significant annual festival for the film buffs throughout the world. The 19th event in 2013 has celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Bengali cinema.

Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is organized by the West Bengal Film Centre under the West Bengal Government. It is an annual international event held in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal and is the second oldest film festival of India. The foundation of this event is enrooted in the year 1995 when it was organized for the first time at Nandan. Nandan was created owing to the sincere efforts of master filmmakers of Kolkata namely Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen and Satyajit Ray who were associated with the Film Society Movement. Kolkata International Film Festival takes place usually in the second-third week of November.

History of Kolkata International Film Festival
Commemorating the glorious heritage of the Film Society Movement, the Government of West Bengal created Nandan as the West Bengal Film Centre. Satyajit Ray inaugurated West Bengal Film Centre in 1985 which started functioning from the year of its origin. The venue Nandan not only provided the technical infrastructure for the film movement, but also conferred fruits to the Bengal intelligentsia for cerebral cultivation. From the moment of its foundation the residents of Kolkata demanded their own film festival that Bengal thoroughly deserved. In 1995, Nandan organized its first independent film festival - Kolkata International Film Festival. Within a couple of years it was recognized by FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers' Associations - Paris), the international authority of film festivals.

Venues of Kolkata International Film Festival
Initially Kolkata International Film Festival was restricted to some limited venues and was popular only among a section of people. But through years, the event has evolved greatly and has touched the lives of common man too. Kolkata International Film Festival has also greatly increased its venues to expand the arena this grand event.

Presently Kolkata International Film Festival is hosted in a number of venues including Nandan, Sisir Mancha, Rabindra Sadan, Girish Mancha, New Empire, Purbashree Auditorium, Okakura - Rabindra Bhavan, SRFTI, Paradise, Star Theatre, Navina Cinema, Mitra Cinema, Hiralal Sen Mancha, Roxy, Inox City Centre I, Uttam Mancha, Hiralal Sen Mancha.

Sections and Genres of Kolkata International Film Festival
The sections in Kolkata International Film Festival include Cinema International, All Time Greats, Retrospective, Focus (Region/Country), Tribute, Homage, Indian Select, Children's Film, Special Screening and Short (fiction, non-fiction) Films. There are various genres of films included in Kolkata International Film Festival, namely the Children and Youth, Feature Films Cinema and Short Films. English subtitles are necessary for every film showcased in this festival.

Other Events during Kolkata International Film Festival
During the week of Kolkata International Film Festival, several associated events take place in the city in varied locations such as Film market at Festival Campus, Face To Face at Film Market Campus, Press Conference at Media Centre (Nandan IV), Film Book Bazaar at Bangla Academy Campus, Academic Sessions at Bangla Academy, Interactive Sessions at Jibanananda Sabhaghar (Bangla Academy Premises) and Exhibition at Nandan Ii Foyer.

Kolkata International Film Festival, 2013
19th Kolkata International Film Festival was organized in 2013 which marked the Golden Jubilee of Bengali cinema. The event opened on 10th of November with the noted director Rituparno Ghosh's movie Taak Jhaank. Renowned Indian actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan and Shahrukh Khan inaugurated the film festival. This 8 day event screened 189 movies from 63 countries with special focus on South East Asian Films. Eight movies of Rituparno Ghosh were showcased as a tribute to the acclaimed director who passed away the same year. Lyrics from the song of renowned singer Manna Dey, who passed away in 2013, were featured in the theme song of Kolkata International Film Festival. Apart from this, the event screened the works of Malayalam filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Tributes were also paid to international directors and actors. In Kolkata International Film Festival a special medi-claim scheme was launched by the State Government for all the technicians of Bengali film industry.

For consecutive years the event has moved forward in creating a proper film culture in the city, travelling from parallel to the so-called mainstream cinemas. It shares a stable place in the international film festival calendar, showcasing films from all over the world.

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