Preparations are in full swing ahead of the 13th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) from March 3-10. This year, films will be screened at three locations: PVR Cinemas-Orion Mall, Rajajinagar, Kalavidara Sangha at Chamrajpet and Suchitra Cine Academy, Banashankari II Stage. As many as 200 films from around 55 countries will be screened this year, said Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy (KCA) Chairman Sunil Puranik, who is also the Festival Director at a press conference on Tuesday.
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To mark 75 years of Independence and Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, films based on India’s freedom struggle will be screened. BiFfes will also mark 50 years of Tulu Cinema focus on North East Indian films too, he added. There will be a special screening of the Kannada classic, Vasantha Sena (1941).
Online registration for delegates will commence on February 16. People can also register in person at the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy and Suchitra Cinema Academy. Delegation fees for the general public have been fixed at ₹800. For students/film society members and the film fraternity it is ₹400.
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For further information, members of the public can contact 080-23494255 or mail to biffesblr@gmail.com.
This year, BiFFes has finally been accredited as an international film festival by the International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations. “We are the 46th festival in the world to receive this recognition. It will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on March 3 at the GKVK campus, while the valedictory programme will be held at Tata Institute on March 10,” he added.
“It takes at least four to five months to organise a film festival but this year, we had to do it at short notice because of Omicron. When the decision was taken by the Chief Minister to hold BiFFes, we had only 32 days. In such a short period we have planned to conduct this festival in a systematic way and not spend too much money on it,” said Mr. Puranik.