Into its 10th edition at its new found home in Goa and for the first time, the International Film Festival of India, in its 45th edtion this year, will witness Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as the official guest for the inaugural function.
Besides Bachchan, Southern superstar Rajinikanth is expected to be part of the inaugural function, where he will receive a centenary award for Indian Film Personality of the Year.
The ceremony this year will be held at the swanky new Syama Prasad Mookerjee indoor stadium at Bambolim on the outskirts of the State Capital on November 20.
The ceremony will see a galaxy of Bollywood stars besides Union Ministers in the form of Union Ministers for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar, Rajyavardhan Rathore and Goa Chief Minister laxmikant Parsekar among others.
Bachchan's presence this year will make news as did his absence from the festival, which has seen almost all stars of yesteryears in attendance or as special guests. His absence from India's biggest State-backed film festival was seen to be as a result of his falling out with the Congress-led Central Governments in the recent past.
For the opening film, The President directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf will be screened, while The Grandmaster by Wong Kar-Wai, who will incidentally receive the lifetime Achievement Award, will be the closing film.
The 11-day festival will also screen 179 films from 75 countries across different categories which include World Cinema (61 films), Masterstrokes (11 films), Festival Kaleidoscope (20 films), Soul of Asia (7 films), Documentaries (6 films), and Animated Films (6 films).
The Indian Panorama section will include 41 feature and non-feature films. Seven films from the India’s North-Eastern region will also be screened at the event, as part of a special package.
“In all, 62 films in the world cinema section will be screened, while 15 films will be screened in the IFFI’s competition section this year,” says Shankar Mohan, a senior official of the Union Ministry for Information and Broadcasting, who is also director of the IFFI.
Retrospective sections on Gulzar and Jahnu Baruah, special homage films on Richard Attenborough, Robin Williams, Zohra Sehgal, Suchitra Sen, and special tribute to Farooq Sheikh would be other attractions this year.
A special section of films that focus on dance, personality based retrospectives, and Masterclasses or specialized workshops conducted by master artistes will also form a part of IFFI 2014. This year's IFFI will also have a special focus on India's bitter-sweet neighbour China.