Assam's first international film festival to open on Saturday with The Salesman

The first Guwahati International Film Festival (GIFF) will open with Asghar Farhadi's Oscar-winning Iranian drama The Salesman.

The Salesman is a moving story of a husband who is determined to identify the attacker who assaulted his wife. The six-day festival starts tomorrow.

Festival director Monita Borgohain today named the opening film at a press conference, adding that 75 films from 35 countries will be showcased.

"Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shaji N Karun, Jahnu Barua, Resul Pookutty, AK Bir shall be part of the festival in various capacities, which will have sections like World Cinema, Country Focus, Indian Panorama, Contemporary Iranian Cinema, Retrospectives, Cinema of Northeast, Cinema of Assam and the Tribute section," said Pabitra Margherita, chairman of Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society.

The festival has been curated by Srinivasa Santhanam, who has in the past also curated festivals like the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the Mumbai film festival.

Srinivasa said Turkey is the focus country at the film festival. The five films from Turkey which will be screened at the festival include The Half (Yarim) by Cagil Nurhak Aydogdu, Cold Of Kalandar by Mustafa Kara, Dust Cloth by Ahu Ozturk and Ember by Zeki Demirkubuz.