Keeping all precautions in place amidst the raging Omicron wave, the Kolkata International Film Festival is all set to be inaugurated from Nabanna by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on January 7. The 27th year of KIFF will see Finland as the focus country this with six eclectic films from the Nordic country being exhibited at the fest. Strict pandemic measures including a 50 per cent seating arrangement in cinema halls will be maintained during the seven-day long event.
At the press conference held in Sisir Mancha yesterday, actor-filmmaker Parambrata Chattopadhyay said there were plans to organise the festival this year in a way it used to be celebrated in the pre-pandemic years but the plans had to be set aside given the current Omicron wave that's engulfing Bengal and the world. Minister Indranil Sen informed that a total of 1,698 film submissions came from over 71 countries and 103 films have been selected among them to be screened at the festival. There are 58 documentary and short films among the selected ones.
Ten cinema halls including the three in Nandan will have a total of 200 shows. Many iconic films including Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri will be screened. Also, a few classics of Buddhadeb Dasgupta including Uttara will be shown at the festival. There will be special screenings of Aparan Sen's The Rapist and Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham. Other yet-to-be-released Bengali films that will be showcased at the festival include Raj Chakraborty's Dharmajuddha, Rajdeep Ghosh's Kolkatar Harry, Sarmistha Maity and Rajdeep Paul's Kalkokkho and Sayantan Mukherjee's Jhora Palok. The festival will continue till January 14.