CHENNAI: The 14th edition of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) kickstarted on Thursday evening with an opening ceremony at Sathyam Cinemas.
Inaugurating the film festival in which over 150 films will screened till January 12, director Bharathiraja said that cinema had greatly evolved over the years and that film festivals had brought more people from across the world closer.
“Cinema as a medium has become an important tool for cultural exchange and it has shrunk boundaries across the world. At the same time, it is important to make good films reflecting real people and be socially conscious as well,” he said.
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Stating that Tamil Nadu had a number of experienced and skilled technicians, the film maker said that this technical expertise must be used to tell the world stories about the culture and tradition here.
Actor Aishwarya Rajesh, Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council president Kalaipuli S. Thanu and Nadigar Sangam Office Bearers Vishal and Karthi also participated in the inaugural ceremony.
Speaking at the event, Suhasini Mani Rathnam said the film festival this year would be a low key affair in honour of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who passed away in December. Under the ‘Homage to Amma’ category, ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ and ‘Suryakanthi’ are to be screened during the festival.
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The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday handed over ₹50 lakh to the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation.
The festival will have films screened from Luxembourg, Brazil, Iran, Poland, Germany and France in addition to a number of films under the Tamil Film competition category and the Indian Panorama category across five venues in the city. The organisers said the prize for the best Tamil film has been raised to ₹3 lakh this year following contributions by the Nadigar Sangam.