The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of the film art; contributing to the understanding and appreciation of film cultures of different nations in the context of their social and cultural ethos; and promoting friendship and cooperation among people of the world.
The International Film Festival of India Secretariat (Directorate of Film Festivals) under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is going to organize the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2014) in Goa from 20th to 30th November 2014. In addition to the regular sections of the festival, an International competition for Director of feature films from all continents is being organized in this Film festival. The total prize money is USD 200,000 approximately.
India’s biggest state-backed film festival, the 45th International Film Festival of India 2014, opened in Goa on Thursday with an impressive line-up of over 170 films that will be screened over the next ten days. Two of the biggest stars of the Indian film industry, Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth, came together for the opening ceremony at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee indoor stadium on the outskirts of the state capital Panaji.
First International Film Festival held in the year 1952
The 1st edition of the film festival was held in Mumbai form 24th of January to 1st of February in the year 1952 which was organized by the Films Division, Government of India with support of the first Prime Minister of India. In the same year in Delhi it was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on 21st of February. The further editions of it have been celebrated in the subsequent years in New Delhi which was then moved to the Trivandrum. It was moved to Goa from Trivandrum in the year 2004. The image of the Goa was enhanced as a world class film destination after the celebration of the 41st film festival.
The Festival will have the following sections:
- International Competition: for Feature Films (produced between 1st September 2013 and 31st August 2014)
- A main International Section called Non-Competition (Cinema of the World), which will consist of recent award-winning and critically acclaimed films, but produced after 1st January, 2013
- Period/Personality-based Foreign Retrospectives, Tributes, Focus & Premiers
- An Indian Panorama of the best recent Indian feature and non-feature films subtitled in English
- A Film Bazaar
The 11-day festival will also screen 179 films from 75 countries across different categories which include World Cinema (61 films), Masterstrokes (11 films), Festival Kaleidoscope (20 films), Soul of Asia (7 films), Documentaries (6 films), and Animated Films (6 films). (With inputs from IANS)