Kolkata film fest to open with ‘Galpo Holeo Sotti’
Times of India | 29 November 2024
Kolkata: As a fitting centenary tribute to director Tapan Sinha, his film ‘Galpo Holeo Sotti', starring Rabi Ghosh and Bhanu Bandopadhyay, was selected as the inaugural film of the 30th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). The festival will showcase 175 films across 20 venues in the city. Unlike previous years when the inaugural film was screened at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, Sinha's film screening will be held at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium.
This was announced at a press conference at Rabindra Sadan by KIFF's chief advisor and minister Aroop Biswas, accompanied by minister and KIFF co-chief advisor Indranil Sen, director general Shantanu Basu, minister Birbaha Hansda, 30th KIFF chairman Goutam Ghose and actor Arjun Chakraborty. The festival song and film, conceptualised and designed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was unveiled at the programme.
"I was the founder chairman of this festival, and I am delighted that we could enhance the intellectual aspect of the festival by organising symposiums, seminars, conversations and lectures at the 30th edition of the festival," said Ghose. Topics for the seminar include ‘intolerance, global justice and the media', ‘the evolution of film festivals', ‘perception changes in cinema due to technological advancements' and ‘what constitutes national cinema in India'. On Dec 4, the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture will be delivered by director R Balki. Homage includes screenings of Utpalendu Chakraborty ('Chokh') and Manoj Mitra ('Banchharamer Bagan') and a panel discussion about director Kumar Shahani — all of whom passed away in Kolkata this year.
This is the first occasion Kolkata will witness Konstantin Bojanov's ‘The Shameless' – the film that earned city girl Anasuya Sengupta a Cannes award this year. Sengupta created history by becoming the first Indian actor to win the Best Actress Award in the Un Certain Regard category at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The festival programmers have allocated three screenings.
Argentine director Pablo Ceaser, who serves as a jury member this year, will be screening his ‘Thinking of Him'. The 2018 film starring Victor Banerjee explores the relationship between Tagore and the Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo during the former's visit to Buenos Aires in the 1920s. Special screenings of Suman Ghosh's acclaimed documentary on Aparna Sen titled ‘Parama – A Journey With Aparna Sen' and Jaydip Mukherjee's ‘Something Like Cinema – Exploring Ray' are anticipated to have substantial attendance. Actor Vidya Balan will interact with Sangeeta Dutta to pay tribute to her ‘Bhalo Theko' director Goutam Halder. Actors and technicians of Sinha's films will also be honoured alongside screenings of his ‘Kabuliwala', ‘Nirjan Saikate', and ‘Harmonium'.
This year, France is the focus country and Nicolas Facino, director of Alliance Française du Bengale, disclosed that the festival will screen 21 French movies.