It’s time to stock up on popcorn, as the 11th edition of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) is finally here. As a prologue to the fest, the 11th edition of Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF), the team underpinning the event revealed the jury members, the venues and the list of movies that would be screened during the eight days from December 12 to 19, at a press meet recently.
The opening session at Sri Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall will see the presence of Kamal Haasan and Amir Khan as special guests, said Suhasini Maniratnam, core committee member of CIFF. Actor Mohanlal will be participating in the closing ceremony, which will see music director Anirudh receiving the Amitabh Bachchan Award for the Youth Icon of the year, revealed Suhasini. The inaugural of CIFF will also feature performances by actor danseuse Shobhana, Swarnamalya, singer Karthik and pianist Anil Srinivasan.
168 movies from 58 countires will be presented at a number of screens in the city including Woodland Theatre complex (two screens), Inox (two screens), Abirami Mega Mall (two screens), Rani Seethai Hall and Casino Theatre.
“There will be three movies screened in the retrospective category - Goran Paskaljevic from Serbia, Claire Denis from France and Istvan Szabo from Hungary,” said E Thangaraj, festival director of CIFF and the general secretary of the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation, who is organising the fest.
Contemporary films from Turkey, and those from Iran and Taiwan will be screened under the category of Country Focus, added Thangaraj.
Aside from the international films featured in the fest, there will also be 12 Tamil films competing this year for the CIFF award, shortlisted from the 17 entries that CIFF received. The best of the lot would be decided by the jury members R V Udayakumar, producer and director, and head of the jury, Sripriya, actor and director, and prominent writer S Ramakrishnan.
With a new CIFF anthem, zumba dance at the beach and flash mob dances by choreographer Senthil in the plan, the festival promises an unadulterated entertainment. What more, there is also a film buff award awaiting the person who proves his passion for cinema with participation.