Internationally acclaimed film-maker Buddhadeb Dasgupta will be the guest of honour at the 9th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes), which will begin on February 2.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the eight-day long festival that will be held in Bengaluru and Mysuru simultenously. It’s for the first time that a film event will be held on the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha. Actors Suhasini Maniratnam and Ramesh Arvind, who recently crossed the 100-film mark, will be the master of ceremonies, according to sources. Five films made by Mr. Dasgupta — Charachar, Dooratwa, Uttara, Bagh Bahadur and Tope — will be screened at the festival under the Retrospective category.
Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy chairperson S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu said: “With five national awards for best films and two best director prizes, Mr. Dasgupta has created a niche for himself in Indian cinema. His participation itself is an honour for BIFFes.”
Mr. Dasgupta was honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the Spain International Film Festival, and was the first Indian film-maker to get the Golden Athena Award at the Athena International Film Festival in 2007. He is the only Indian director whose five films have been screened in the Masters section of the Toronto International Film Festival.
For the first time, the audience will be treated to video mapping technology on cinema, culture and traditions of Karnataka.
So far, over 200 films have been selected under various categories for screening at BIFFes.
