Panaji/ New Delhi: The 49th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa ended at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, in Goa on Wednesday. The government also announced that preparations for golden jubilee edition have begun and the 50th edition next year would trace the history of IFFI from the 1st to the 49th and reitereated that facilities at Goa would be enhanced, given the overwhelming response received from film-lovers. Indian cine celebrities Anil Kapoor, Rakul Preet, Chitrangada Singh, Diana Penty and Keerthi Suresh walked the red carpet, adding to the colour of the star-studded evening. A host of dignitaries from the political and cinematic landscape also graced the occasion. Governor of Goa Mridula Sinha and Union Minister of State for AYUSH (I/C), Shripad Naik were also present. Many renowned film personalities such as IFFI 2018 Lifetime Achievement Awardee Dan Wolman, Anil Kapoor, Indian Panorama Jury Chief Rahul Rawail, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Kabir Bedi too attended the closing ceremony.
Stating that the 49th edition has been a great success, Information and Broadcasting secretary Amit Khare said that film bazaar has elicited response from various countries across the world. He said that Israel has been the focus country and Jharkhand the state focus. Noting that the preparations for the golden jubilee celebration of the festival next year has begun, the Secretary said that the government would like to showcase the film culture of each and every region of the country and trace the history of IFFI from the 1st to the 49th. He added that the facilities at Goa would be enhanced, given the overwhelming response received from film-lovers. He said that this is being done, so tha the 50th IFFI can have many more delegates than this year.
Over the last nine days, more than 220 movies from 67 countries were screened at IFFI. While the festival opened with the world premiere of English film ‘The Aspern Papers’, the world premiere of German film ‘Sealed Lips’ marks the conclusion of this festival bonanza. 26 feature films and 21 non-feature films were screened in the Indian Panorama section. While Israel was the focus country, Jharkhand was the focus state this year. This is for the first time that any state was made focus state at IFFI. Veteran Israeli filmmaker Dan Wolman was given he Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening ceremony. Another new section at IFFI this year was the screening of six Indian sports biopics as an extension of the Khelo India initiative.
In the International competition section, 15 movies were screened, out of which 3 were Indian. Festival Kaleidoscope section carried 20 critically acclaimed international films that have been to major film festivals and majority of them being multiple award winners. World Panorama section had 67 films which are specially curated for the festival. This included 4 World Premiers, 2 International Premiers, 15 Asia Premiers and 60 India Premiers. This year World Panorama section presented 15 films which are Oscar submissions from respective countries.
