Film buffs and aspiring filmmakers can now gear up for the biggest extravaganza of international films in the city. The eighth edition of the Chennai International Film Festival will be held from December 15 to 23 December. Organised by ICAF, the festival will be supported by the Film Federation Of India (FFI) and South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC). The state government has granted Rs 25 lakhs towards the festival. While director Mani Ratnam has donated Rs 5 lakhs towards it, director Gautham Menon will take care of the creative aspect of the fest.
Speaking to mediapersons, Ramakrishnan of ICAF said that this time around the festival is bigger with participation from film actors. Around 130 films from 40 countries would be screened at four venues — Woodlands, Woodlands Symphony, Inox and the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce.
Speaking on the occasion, Radika Sarathkumar said that a red carpet welcome would be given to the stars at Inox where selected films would be screened for them.
Films like Puzzle from Argentina, Faith from Germany, R from Denmark, The Child Prodigy from Canada among others will be a part of the nine day fest. A total of 14 to 15 Tamil films would be screened in the competition category. There are also awards for the best films and this time they are planning to give the best individual award.
A special memento to be awarded to the winners has been designed by sculptor S Nandagopal. Actors Sarathkumar, Suhasini, Parthipan, Revathi, S ve Shekar and Poornima Bhagyaraj were present on the occasion.