Opening Ceremony of 51st IFFI Focuses on Folk Culture and Music of Goa through Vibrant Performances

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Entertainment | January 18, 2021 | News

Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium International Film Festival of India

The Opening Ceremony of the 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Panaji, Goa on January 16, 2021 took off with vibrant cultural performances based on the folk culture and music of Goa, to mark an event celebrating the joy of cinema. The venue, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, reverberated with the passion of film-stars, film-makers and film-lovers from around the world.

The ceremony was hosted by actors Tisca Chopra and Priyadarshan Nair while actor Sudeep was the Chief Guest in the midst of other celebrated film personalities. The function also saw the presence of Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar and Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant, among other dignitaries.

Chief Secretary of Goa, Puneet Kumar; MD-Entertainment Society of Goa, Amit Satija; Secretary General of the Film Federation of India and IFFI Screening Committee Member, Ravi Kottarakara; IFFI Festival Director, Chaitanya Prasad were amongst other senior functionaries present at the festival.

Let cinema be the new pandemic: Sudeep
Speaking on the occasion, actor Sudeep said, “Let cinema be the new pandemic. Cinema is one fraternity that, from one seat, takes you all around the world, gets you the knowledge, gets you closer to the culture of every fraternity across the world.”

Addressing the audience, Prakash Javadekar said that 600 international entries and 190 Indian entries were received at IFFI this year, reflecting the huge importance the world attaches to it. He added that unlike other countries, India has multiple favourable destinations for shooting.
“Hence, we need to promote ‘Shoot in India’,” the Minister said.

Goa CM Sawant invited Indian and global film-makers to look at Goa as a preferred destination for film-making. "The annual IFFI gives an opportunity to members of the film fraternity from across the world to explore this jewel from the West coast of India,” he said.

The High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, Mohammad Imran was also present on the occasion. “We thank the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, for organizing this festival in this challenging time. It shows the commitment and courage you have to face and overcome the challenging situation as well as your passion and love for arts and culture, ”Mohammad Imran said. On the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, India and Bangladesh will together make a film titled Bangabandhu, it was announced.

Weaving content with technology
The Lifetime Achievement award at the festival was given to Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. A trailer of the festival’s opening film ‘Another Round’ by Danish film-maker Thomas Vinterberg was played during the opening ceremony. Veteran actor, director and producer Biswajit Chatterjee was crowned as ‘Indian Personality of the Year’.

The 14th edition of NFDC Film Bazaar was also virtually launched by Javadekar on the occasion. The NFDC Film Bazaar will be held in a hybrid format, which will be both offline and online. The Film Bazaar encourages creative and financial collaboration between the South Asian and international film communities.

Festival Director Chaitanya Prasad said, “The 51st edition of IFFI has written a new narrative wherefrom other film festivals in the world will get a new template of excellence. Referring to Resurgent India, Inspirational India and the idea of New India, we have positioned this festival through the medium of films. This festival has taught us how to weave content with technology; we are extremely happy that we have come up with a hybrid festival, the next few days are going to set the standards for other film festivals.”

Neerja Shekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said, “We remain committed to further promoting the film sector in the country and look forward to actively promoting the AVGC sector as well.”