53rd International Film Festival of India kicks off in Goa today, CM Sawant inspects venue

On Sunday morning, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant inspected the Film Festival venue.

"It's the perfect venue for IFFI," said CM Pramod Sawant.

CM Sawant informed that Union Minister Anurag Thakur, Bollywood celebrities Ajay Devgn, Sunil Shetty, and Prabhu Deva would attend the opening ceremony of the international Film festival of India to be held at Syam Prasad Mukherjee stadium at Goa's Bambolim today.

As many as 75 youths, in the age group of 18-35, will get to attend the festival this year as special guests, as part of the '75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow' this year's IIFI awards initiative of the Central government.

The idea on which the event was founded is to celebrate films, the stories they tell and the people behind them.

To mark the golden jubilee of Manipuri cinema, IFFI 53-Asia's oldest film festival - will showcase five feature and five non-feature films, curated by Manipur State Film Development Society under Indian Panorama, as per an official statement.

Each year April 9, has been celebrated as the birth of Manipuri cinema since the first Manipuri feature film was released on 9th April 1972 named 'Matamgi Manipur', directed by Deb Kumar Bose.

With the screening of the opening feature film Ishanaou directed by Padmashree award-winning director Aribam Shyam Sharma and Ratan Thiyam; The Man of Theater in the non-feature film section along with other films, the cinema enthusiast will get a taste of rich cultural heritage, fierce storytelling, dance, music, traditions and theatres from the state of Manipur.

Manipuri film pioneers like Aribam Shyam Sharma, Oken Amakcham, Nirmala Chanu, Borun Thokchom, and Romi Meitei will mark their presence to celebrate the 50 years of aesthetic brilliance of Manipuri cinema during the 53rd Edition of IFFI, Goa, as per an official statement.

The doors to great cinema will be thrown open for free at Joggers Park in Altinho, Ravindra Bhavan in Margao and Miramar Beach, informed officials.

The Indian Panorama, the flagship component of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), announced the selection of 25 and 20 non-feature films. The selected films will be showcased at the 53rd IFFI in Goa from November 20-November 28, 2022. (ANI)