Pune International Film Festival to be held from January 9 to 16

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Pune, December 9, 2019: Pune Film Foundation in association with the Government of Maharashtra will hold its annual Pune International Film Festival from January 9 to 16, 2020. The theme being ‘Maharashtra’s Diamond Jubilee Year’ the festival this year will feature films, which will highlight the cultural values of Maharashtra. This information was given by Dr Jabbar Patel, Chairman and Director, PIFF at a press conference held in Pune today.

Dignitaries including Ravi Gupta, Secretary, Pune Film Foundation, Samar Nakhate, Creative Director, Prakash Magdum, Director, NFAI, Bhupendra Kainthola, Director, FTII, Satish Alekar, Trustee, Makrand Sathe, Selection committee and Abhijeet Randive, Selection Committee were present at the conference.

In addition to this, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), the organizers will also line up several activities to celebrate the film education in India.

This year, the official Film Festival of Maharashtra has received 1900 film entries from more than 60 countries and out of that 191 films will be presented at the festival. In addition to that, there will be discussions on movies as well as workshops and exhibitions at the festival, informed Dr Patel.

This year, the films will be showcased on 8 screens at 4 locations, which will include the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), INOX, Bund Garden Road and PVR Pavilion, Senapati Bapat Road.

Dr Jabbar Patel said, “Maharashtra was created on May 1, 1960, and this year it will complete its 60th year of existence. In India, Maharashtra state is culturally prosperous and advanced. The “birthplace” of Indian cinema is in Maharashtra and that many early “pioneers” of Indian cinema including Dadasaheb Phalke the ‘father of Indian Cinema’ was born here. That’s why we are making an attempt to showcase the cultural values of the Maharashtra state at the festival. The Marathi and Indian Cinema grew in the State of Maharashtra.”

There will be several film sections at the festival, which will include – Opening film, Awardees section, World Competition, Marathi Competition, MITSFT International Student Competition, Tribal Research & Training Institute short film Competition, Global Cinema, Country Focus – Arts and Culture and Bafta Shorts, Theme Section, Retrospective, Indian Cinema, Kaleidoscope and Tribute.

This year, films from the United Kingdom will be shown in the Country Focus section with two special packages by the British Council. A beautiful set of short films, ‘The BAFTA Shorts 2019’ will represent storytelling that reveals the breadth and diversity of British society, together with world-class artistic and technical flair, and featuring some of the UK’s finest acting talents.

Each year, the British Council along with the Grierson Trust recognises the best documentary filmmaking from Britain and abroad through its prestigious ‘British Documentary Awards’ and are given unprecedented access to the best of the nominees to share with audiences. These films will be shown under the ‘Arts and Culture.’

The retrospective section of the festival will feature films by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, fondly known as Hrishi-da. An eminent film director, editor and writer regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema.

This year as we are Celebrating the centenary of Federico Fellini’s birth, a retrospective is being showcased on the Italian master whose genius still looms large over the history of cinema. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.

The online registration process for the audience will open from December 9 on the website www.piffindia.com. Spot registration will be available from January 2, 2020, at NFAI Law College road, INOX, Bund Garden Road and PVR Pavilion, Senapati Bapat Road from 10 am to 7 pm.

Age group is of the age 18 and above. A discounted catalogue fee of Rs 600 will be for Students, members of the ‘Film Club’ and Senior Citizens ( age 60 and above) after showing their valid ID, while for the open category the catalogue fee is Rs 800.