The 49th International Film Festival of India will be held in Goa between November 20 and 28, with a line-up of 212 films from more than 68 countries, according to a press release.
The detailed line-up is yet to be announced, but the festival will open with the world premiere of Julien Landais’s The Aspern Papers. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Joely Richardson and Morgane Polanski, the film is based on Henry James’s novella of the same name about an ambitious editor in 19th-century Venice who is obsessed with Romantic poet Jeffrey Aspern.
The Indian Panorama section will feature 26 feature and 21 non-feature films. Shaji N Karun’s Malayalam drama Olu will open the feature section, while Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s Marathi short film Kharvas will open the non-feature section.
Several Bengali films, including Kaushik Ganguly’s Nagarkirtan, Srijit Mukherjee’s Uma, Arjun Dutta’s Abyakto and Abhishek Saha’s Uronchondi, will be screened as part of this section.
This year’s country in focus is Israel. A segment dedicated to Israel’s cinema will open with Avi Nesher’s The Other Story, about two women with contrasting religious beliefs whose paths cross in Jerusalem. Israeli actor Alon Aboutboul (Rambo III, Munich, Body of Lies and The Dark Knight Rises) will be a special guest. Israeli filmmaker Dan Wolman will be given a lifetime achievement award and a separate segment at the festival will showcase his work.
The festival’s state in focus is Jharkhand. Konkona Sen Sharma’s Death in the Gunj, Sattwik Mohanty’s Ranchi Diaries, and Srijit Mukherji’s Begum Jaan will be screened as part of the Jharkhand package.
To mark the 100th birth anniversary of Ingmar Bergman, the festival will host seven films by the Swedish master. Marie Nyrerod’s documentary Bergman Island will also be screened.
A retrospective of the late actor Vinod Khanna will include his key films, including Achanak (1998), Lekin (1991) and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977).
The festival will also pay tributes to film personalities who died over the last year including actor Shashi Kapoor, actress Sridevi, former Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi and filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi.
Special screenings of Sholay (1975) and Hichki (2018) with audio descriptions will be organised for visually impaired children. The festival will also host a presentation of Tunisian films.