One of India’s most renowned film festivals, the International Film Festival of India is back in Goa this year. Started way back in 1952, the first-ever IFFI was organized by the Films Division, Government of India, with the patronage of the first Prime Minister of India – Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) aims at providing a common platform to the cinemas across the world to project the excellence of the art of filmmaking. Its also the first International Film Festival held anywhere in Asia. The IFFI 2017 promises to be an interesting affair once again in Goa.
Russian Film Days at IFFI 2017
The new tourism season has already started in Goa and Russian charters fly in on an almost daily basis. ‘Russian Film Days’, a film festival organized as part of an Indo-Russian government co-operation initiative, could help Goans get a more layered understanding of Russia, its culture and the aspirations of thousands of Russians tourists who arrive in the state every tourist season. This is set to happen at this year’s IFFI.
The festival is to be held across three cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, and Goa.
The ‘Russian Film Days’ film festival is being organized to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and India. It will be inaugurated on November 10 at the famous Siri Fort complex in Delhi. The Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev and leading representatives of Russian and Indian cinema are expected to be in attendance.
The opening film is the 2017 drama film ‘Bolshoi’, which will be presented by the film’s director himself, Valery Todorovsky. The movie is about Russia’s most famous ballet and tells the story of two characters, Yulya and Karina, who study at the ballet academy and then compete to become lead dancers in a performance at the Bolshoi Theater.
The film festival will travel from Delhi to Mumbai and culminate in Goa at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2017). Path-breaking films such as Light up, Hostage and Closeness will be screened at IFFI. Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev’s new masterpiece titled Loveless is a movie described as an “apocalyptic study of a failed marriage and the subsequent disappearance of a child” in reviews.
Photo credit – LLC Cinemarus, LLC Russian Cinema
Collaborations
Maria Lemesheva, Editor-in-chief of The Hollywood Reporter (Russian edition) who is also the producer of the forum and adviser of the Filmmakers Union of the Russian Federation says: “We see that our work is already producing results – the mutual interest of Russian and the Indian film industry has grown substantially. This year Indian films have become participants of the Moscow International Film Festival. Considering the rich history of Indo-Russian cinema relations, I’m sure this year will be vivid and memorable and will give us new interesting and mutually beneficial projects”.
Photo credit – LLC Cinemarus, LLC Russian Cinema
Organised by Cinemarus, a production company in cooperation with the Russkoe Kino Company and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Russian National Fund of Copyright Holders’s Support, the Filmmakers Union of the Russian Federation, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting India, Directorate of Film Festivals and IFFI the film festival titled ‘Russian Film Days’ will throw open the world of Russian visual arts and films to the people of Goa.
The opening ceremony in India will see a tribute paid to the legendary Raj Kapoor and his hallmark 1970s film ‘Mera Naam Joker’ which ran successfully across the USSR 45 years ago. Special guests for the evening will be Randhir Kapoor and Kseniya Ryabinkina, a former ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, who played one of the key roles in the film.
The entry to all the screenings will be free of charge and at a first-come-first-seat basis. This is usually the case with all movie screenings during the film festival. So get ready for IFFI 2017 and the Russian Film Days.
If you would like to register for IFFI 2017, follow the simple instructions on the sign-up page and you’re good to go!
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