KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed all cine-lovers from across the world to come to the ''City of Joy'' to experience world cinema as the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) kicks off on Saturday at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Taking to her twitter handle, Ms Banerjee said, '' 24th Kolkata International Film Festival #KIFF2018 begins today. I welcome cine-lovers from across the world to come to the 'City of Joy' to experience world cinema. The special attraction at #KIFF 2018 this year is 100 years of Bengali cinema. The theme country is Australia. 170 films will be screened this year, '' she added.
The inauguration programme will be attended by the famous Iranian director Majid Majidi, Dadasaheb Phalke awardee Soumitra Chatterjee, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, the State's brand ambassador, Shah Rukh Khan, as well as Waheeda Rehman, Nandita Das, Sanjay Dutt and Mahesh Bhatt.
The highlight of this year's festival is 100 years of Bengali cinema, and there would be films by legends like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen and others.
The theme country this year is Australia, to be represented by film editor Jill Elizabeth Bilcock, and film-makers Phillip Noyce and Simon Becker.
The Special Focus country this year would be Tunisia.