Following Indian traditions, the 55th IFFI was ceremonially inaugurated by watering of a coconut sapling at a spectacular ceremony held at the Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Stadium at Bambolim, near Goa University.
Dignitaries on the dai included Chief Minister of Goa Dr. Pramod Sawant, Secretary Information & Broadcasting Shri Sanjay Jaju, Spiritual Guru, Shri Sri Ravi Shankar Festival Director Shri Shekhar Kapur, Chairman CBFC Shri Prasoon Joshi and Chairman Prasar Bharati Shri Naveneet Kumar Sehgal among others.
Some of the brightest stars of cine-world were felicitated in the presence of cinema-worshippers in the gala opening ceremony, which was hosted by popular film personalities Abhishek Banerjee and Bhumi Pednekar. Film stalwarts Subhash Ghai, Chidanand Naik, Boman Irani, R K Selvamani, Jaideep Ahlawat, Jayam Ravi, Ishari Ganesh, R. Sarath Kumar, Pranita Subhash, Jackky Bhagnani, Rakul Preet Singh, Randeep Hooda and Rajkummar Rao were felicitated for their immense contributions to cinema.
In a video message, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw said that IFFI has become a significant milestone in the development of the Indian film industry.
“People are coming up with innovative content that showcases India’s diverse cultures, cuisines, rich heritage, and gems of Indian literature and languages in interesting and creative ways”, he said.
“Let’s tell each other our stories,” urged film stalwart and Festival Director Shri Shekhar Kapur. He said, “Within a nation and nations and communities in a polarized world, the only way to talk to each other is by telling our stories.” This will bring us close to each other and solve a lot of problems in the world, and so we have to continue organising film festivals, opined the renowned film maker.
THE JURIES
Chief Minister of Goa Dr. Pramod Sawant and Festival Director Shekhar Kapoor felicitated 55th IFFI’s International Competition Jury members – Ashutosh Gowariker (Chairman), Anthony Chen, Elizabeth Karlsen, Fran Borgia, and Jill Bilcock.
The Jury for the newly introduced ‘Best Debut Indian Film’ Category was also mentioned which includes Santhosh Sivan (Jury Chairperson), M.V. Raghu, Suneel Puranik, Sekhar Das and Vinit Kanojia.
Indian Panorama Feature Films Jury includes Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi (Jury Chairperson), Manoj Joshi, Sushmita Mukherjee, Himansu Sekhar Khatua, Oinam Gautam, Ashuu Trikha, S.M. Patil, Neelabh Kaul, Susant Misra, Arun Kumar Bose, Ratnottama Sengupta, Sameer Hanchate and Priya Krishnaswamy.
Indian Panaroma Non-Feature films Jury includes Subbaiah Nallamuthu (Jury Chairperson), Rajni Acharya, Ronel Haobam, Usha Deshpande, Vandana Kohli, Mithunchandra Chaudhari and Shalini Shah.
The formal inauguration was followed by a colourful cultural programmes showcasing cultural synergy and diversity of India enthused all, and made a grand start to nine days of celebrating creativity and cinematic brilliance.
