Six-day GIFF begins today

By our staff reporter

GUWAHATI, Oct 27: Oscar-winning Iranian movie directed by Asghar Farhadi – The Salesman – is to mark beginning of the Guwahati Intertiol Film Festival (GIFF), the first-ever in the Northeast, on Saturday.

The six-day festival has been organized by Jyoti Chitraban in association with Dr Bhupen Hazarika Regiol Government Film and Television Institute and Assam State Film (Fince and Development) Corporation under the Department of Cultural Affairs at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra at Panjabari, Guwahati and at Jyoti Chitraban studio in the city. Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal is going to iugurate the festival at Kalakshetra.

Addressing a press meet on Friday Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society chairman Pabitra Margherita said: “Turkey will be the country in focus at the festival. Apart from seven films from Indian panorama and films from the Northeast will be screened.  Under the cinemas of Assam section seven movies will be screened. The Village Rockstar directed Rima Das will be screened specially.

Adoor Gopalakrishn, Shaji N Karun, Jahnu Barua, AK Bir, and a few other renowned actors and directors from the world shall be the part of the festival.”

The festival has two categories of films — competition section and non-competition section. Cinema of Assam (feature films) is a competition section and all others like as Indian Panorama, World Cinema, Retrospectives, Tribute (Assamese Director), Country Focus and Cinema of Northeast are under non-competition section. The best Assamese film will be awarded Rs 2 lakh and a trophy and a citation each to the director and producer. Second best Assamese film will be awarded Rs 1.50 lakh and a trophy and a citation each to the director and producer. The Special Jury Award will be given Rs 1 lakh along with a trophy and a citation.  A special technician team arranged for the festival is UFO team and the curator of the festival is V Shantaram, renowned film director and producer. Monita Borgohain is the festival director.

Margherita said: “Jyoti Chitraban wears a new look with renovation after a decade. Roads and other infrastructure to the studio have been upgraded. Salaries of its employees have been hiked.”

Special DGP Kuladhar Saikia said: “A security blanket has been in place in the city. Film fraternity from abroad and from the country is to get a beefed up security.”