The 14th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) will be organised in the city from March 23 to 30.
The venue will remain Orion Mall, Rajajinagar, like previous years, said Revenue Minister R. Ashok, who has been tasked with organising the festival this year. While the Assembly elections are expected to be announced by the last week of March or the first week of April, it will not affect the festival, government sources hoped.
“This year, the festival is special as Kannada cinema has truly reached the global stage this year. We are all proud of what Kannada cinema has achieved. The festival will aid the image of both Bengaluru and Kannada cinema,” said Mr. Ashok, adding that he had appealed to the Chief Minister to increase the prize money for winners to increase the prestige of the festival. “The prize money hasn’t been revised for over five years now,” he said. The inauguration will be held on a grand scale on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha with a renowned actor and actress from other languages as chief guests and the valedictory will be chaired by the Governor, Mr. Ashok said.
Meanwhile, like last year, BIFFes is being organised in a hurry and the curation team was put together just days ago. Last year it was put together in just over a month’s time. Senior film society activist H.N. Narahari Rao, one of the founders of BIFFes, has been appointed the artistic director of the festival.
Pradeep Kumar Shetty Kenchanur, deputy artistic director, said they were planning to hold a retrospective of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene to honour his centenary year and Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Shyam Sharma. “We are also planning to screen films of Kannada indie filmmakers who are often not discussed as part of the parallel cinema movement,” he said.
