The 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was held in Goa from 20 to 28th November 2023.
- The 54th IFFI was jointly organised by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting(MIB) along with the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), Government of Goa.
About IFFI:
i.IFFI celebrates cinematic diversity by transcending borders and bringing together global cinema on a single platform every year. IFFI is considered one of the prestigious international film festivals, placing it among the 14 acclaimed festivals including Cannes, Venice and Berlin.
ii.It is one of the most prominent film festivals in Asia established in 1952.
iii.Since the 35th edition of IFFI, Goa has become the permanent host of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Opening Ceremony:
Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister, MIB; Dr L Murugan, Minister of State, MIB; along with Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister (CM) of Goa graced the Opening Ceremony of 54th IFFI on 20th November 2023 at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Talegaon, Goa.
- The International film “Catching Dust” directed by the British filmmaker Stuart Gatt was screened as the opening film.
Closing Ceremony:
Himachal Pradesh Police Orchestra ‘Harmony of the Pines’ performed at the closing ceremony of the 54th IFFI on 28th November 2023.
- The festival closed with the screening of the American biographical sports drama titled “The Feather Weight” directed by Robert Kolodny.
Awards & Honours Presented during 54th IFFI:
Bhartiya Cinema award:
Renowned Indian actress, Padma Shri Awardee Madhuri Dixit was honoured with the Special Recognition to Bhartiya Cinema award for her outstanding contributions to the Indian film industry.
About Madhuri Dixit:
i.Madhuri Dixit has a distinguished career of more than 40 years. She was honoured with Padma Shri (for Art) in 2008
ii.She was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in India in 2014.
Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award:
American Actor Michael Douglas was honoured with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award of the Year(2023) by Shekhar Kapoor and Chief Minister Shri Pramod Sawant.
About Michael Douglas:
i. Michael Douglas career spans more than 50 years. He is best known for his iconic roles in films like Wall Street, Fatal Attraction, The American President, Basic Instinct and many others.
ii.He received various accolades including two Academy Awards, Five Golden Globe Awards, and One Primetime Emmy Award.
Other Noted Awards:
| Award Category | Winner | Language |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Peacock | ||
| Best Film | Endless Borders directed by Abbas Amini | Persian |
| Silver Peacock | ||
| Best Director | Stephen Komandara for “Blaga’s Lessons” | Bulgarian |
| Best Actor(Male) | Pouria Rahimi Sam for “Endless Borders”. | Persian |
| Best Actor (Female) | Melanie Thierry for “Party of Fools”. | French |
| Other Awards | ||
| Best Debut Feature Film of a Director | Reger Azad Kaya for When the Seedlings Grow | Syrian Arab Republic |
| ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Award | “Drift” directed by Anthony Chen | |
| Special Jury Award | Rishab Shetty for “Kantara” | Kannada |
Note: Renowned Indian Filmmaker Shekar Kapoor was the chairman of the international jury of the 54th IFFI, Goa.
About ICFT-UNESCO, the Gandhi Medal:
i.The annual award, introduced in 2015 at the 46th IFFI, recognises a film which embodies the principles of Gandhi such as Non-Violence, Truth and Universal Brotherhood.
ii.The award was jointly established by the International Council for Film Television and Audio Visual Communication(ICFT) Paris (France) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO).
“Odh” bagged the best film award at the “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow”
The film “Odh” directed by Akhil Lotlikar won the best film award at “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow” (CMOT) held at the 54th IFFI, Goa on November 25, 2023.
- The central idea of the film is focused on the coastal erosion of seas.
- 75 CMOT participants were divided into 5 teams who made short films on the topic “Mission Life” in 48 hours.
75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow (CMOT):
- This initiative aims to encourage young creative talents from various sectors of filmmaking.
- It was launched in 2021 to mark the 75th year of India’s Independence as part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebrations.
“Panchayat 2” won Inaugural OTT Award for Web Series:
“Panchayat 2” a comedy-drama series in Hindi streamed on Amazon Prime Video in 2022 won the prestigious OTT Award for web series at the 54th IFFI. Goa CM Pramod Sawant presented the award to Deepak Kumar Mishra, The Director of Panchayat.
- For the 1st time OTT(Over the top) Award for the web series category was introduced at the 54th IFFI.
- The series portrays the journey of protagonist Abhishek Tripathi (played by actor Jitendra Kumar), an urban graduate who struggles to settle in a job in the fictional rural village of Phulera, Uttar Pradesh(UP).
Highlights of 54th IFFI:
Indian Panorama 2023 was officially selected for the 54th IFFI
Indian Panorama, the main component of IFFI, showcased 25 feature films and 20 non-feature films at the 54th IFFI held in Goa. Its main aim is to select films of excellent cinematic, thematic and creative quality.
Jury of Indian Panorama 2023
Indian Panorama is chosen by a jury of eminent film personalities across India. The 2023 jury panel comprised 12 members for Feature films and 6 jury members for Non-Feature films.
- The Feature film jury was chaired by noted film director and Producer, TS Nagabharana.
- The Non-Feature film jury was chaired by eminent documentary film director Arvin Sinha.
Attam (Malayalam) directed by Anand Ekarshi was chosen as the opening feature film of Indian Panorama 2023.
Andro Dreams (Manipuri) directed by Longjam Meena Devi was chosen as the opening non-feature film of Indian Panorama 2023.
Launch of 17th Film Bazar at IFFI, Goa
Anurag Thakur, Union Minister, MIB inaugurated the 17th edition of the Film Bazar, an initiative of the NFDC, at Marriot Resort, Goa.
- It has become South Asia’s largest film market and provides a platform for local film makers to collaborate with global producers and distributors.
- At the inauguration, Anurag Thakur highlighted that the Indian Media and Entertainment Industry boasted an annual growth rate of 20%.
Note: The Indian Media and Entertainment Industry is the 5th largest and most globalised industry in the world.
- This Film Bazar witnessed the selection of films from various categories such as Fiction, Docu-Short, Documentaries, Horror Films and Animated Films. It explores various themes related to Diaspora, patriarchy, urban angst, extreme poverty, climate crisis, nationalism, sports and fitness.
- Film Bazar screened 10 recommended films from different genres including documentary, horror, climate crisis, and fiction. The films are in English, Hindi, Bengali, Marwari, Kannada and Maori (New Zealand language).
Union Minister Anurag Thakur launched the first-of-its-kind VFX and Tech Pavilion at the 54th IFFI
On 21st November 2023, Anurag Thakur, Union Minister, MIB, inaugurated the VFX and Tech Pavilion as part of the 54th IFFI in Goa.
- Neerja Sekhar, Additional Secretary, MIB and Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary (Films), MIB and Managing Director (MD) of NFDC were present during the inauguration.
VFX and Tech Pavilion:
This Pavilion is a first-of-its-kind in the history of Film Bazaar by NFDC at IFFI. It will introduce some of the most dynamic, immersive and cutting-edge technology in filmmaking in the field of animation, visual effects, virtual reality and CGI.
- Union Minister inaugurated various sections of the pavilion including Cine Museum, Viewing Zones of Amazon Prime and Netflix among others.
- He interacted with the young film-makers selected under the “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow” initiative and also interacted with the Book to Box section of the Tech Pavilion.
- He highlighted that India will become the 3rd largest Media and Entertainment Industry in the world in the next 5 years.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur launched the “48 Hours Film Challenge” as part of the 3rd edition of “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow”
On 21st November 2023, Union Minister Anurag Thakur launched the “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow” challenge in Goa on the sidelines of 54th IFFI, Goa.
About 48 Hours Film Challenge: Under this initiative, 75 participants selected across India will get an opportunity to make a short film in 48 hours at the 54th IFFI, Goa.
- These 75 young filmmakers and artists are from 19 different states and UTs (Union Territories) of India.
- All the participants are under the age of 35 years. Among these 75 young participants, the youngest participant is Shashwat Shukla from Mumbai, Maharashtra whose age is just 18 years and he participated in the category of Music Composition/ Sound Design.
Additional info:
i.54th IFFI showcased around 250 films, totaling close to 30,000 minutes of viewing, representing 68 international and 17 Indian languages from 78 countries.
ii.More than 5,000 films and documentaries of multiple languages in the 4K digital format will be restored under National Film Heritage Mission .
