The 27th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) will be held physically from 7 to 14 January next year. The film festival will open with Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri (1970).
KIFF will also be screening films and documentaries directed by Ray, who would have turned 100 on 2 May 2021, including Pather Panchali (1955), Parash Pathar (1958), Sonar Kella (1974), Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980), Nayak (1966), Rabindranath Tagore (1961), The Inner Eye (1972) and Two (1984). Documentaries on the legend, including Music of Satyajit Ray by Utpalendu Chakraborty, Life and Work of Satyajit Ray by Goutam Ghose, BD Garga’s Creative Artists of India: Satyajit Ray and Shyam Benegal’s Satyajit Ray will be screened as well.
The films Portrait of a City (1961) and Amodini (1984) by historian and critic Chidananda Das Gupta whose centenary was also observed last year will also be showcased.
Chidananda Das Gupta, film critic par excellence – Centenary special
Tribute will also be paid to Hungarian film director and screenwriter Miklós Jancsó with the screening of his film Electra, My Love (1974).
This year saw the demise of some of the stalwarts of Indian cinema, including actor Dilip Kumar, filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Sumitra Bhave and actress Swatilekha Sengupta. KIFF will honour their legacy with the screenings of their films in the Special Tribute category.
Madhuja Mukherjee’s Deep6, which was premiered at the 26th Busan International Film festival this year, has been selected in International Competition: Innovation in the Moving Images section along with Ishaan Ghose’s Jhilli, and Mohsen Ostad Ali’s Zananegi (Femininity).
The winner of the Kim Jiseok Award at the 26th Busan International Film Festival, Aparna Sen’s The Rapist, starring Konkona Sensharma and Arjun Rampal will be screened in the Special Screening category. Along with Shoojit Sircar’s critically acclaimed film Sardar Udham, Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Nazarband, Goutam Ghose’s Samayer Shritimala and Saibal Mitra’s A Holy Conspiracy starring Naseeruddin Shah and the late Soumitra Chatterjee, are some of the most anticipated films that will be screened in this category.
The Siegfried film Bengali Variation, starring Sohini Sarkar and Sagnik Mukherjee, has been selected in the Cinema International section. Pedro Almodovar’s Madres Paralelas and Ashgar Farhadi’s A Hero will also be showcased in this category.
Amartya Bhattacharyya’s Odia feature Adieu Godard, Rajesh Chavan’s Raakh, Rajesh Touchriver’s Mindgame, Anuraag Pati’s Prapti, Biplab Bandopadhyay’s Dhulo Bali Katha, Tara Ramanujan Nishiddho, G Prabha’s Taya, Reema Borah’s NOI, Ishrat R Khan’s Ghuthlee Ladoo and Prabhas Chandra’s Be Ches Ne Veth (I’m Not The River Jhelum) will be screened in the Competition on Indian Language’s Film (sic) section.
Abhinandan Banerjee’s Manikbabur Megh, Shabnam Ferdousi’s Ajob Karkhana, Sourish Dey’s Baagh and Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti’s Kalkokkho will compete for the Asian Select (NETPAC Award).
Manikbabur Megh was premiered at the Talinn Black Nights Film Festival earlier this year and was also screened at the 52nd International Film Festival of India, Goa.
Arup Manna’s Bokhali, Biswajit Bora’s Boomba Ride, Saurabh Saha’s Bihaan: The Tune of Faith and Sandeep Kamat’s Amche Samsar are some of the films to look out for in the Unheard India: Rare Language Indian Films category.
Suman Ghosh’s Searching for Happiness, starring Sudipta Chakraborty; Amitabha Chatterji’s Into The Mist; Rajdeep Ghosh’s Kolkatar Harry, featuring Soham Chakraborty; and Priyanka Sarkar and Sayantan Mukherjee’s Jhora Palok, based on poet Jibananda Das’s novel Malyaban, are among the official selections at the Bengali Panorama category.
Kaushik Sengupta’s Tarader Majhe, Tanmay Shah’s Walls That Matter, Biswajit Das’s Truth and Satire, Debajyoti Ghosh’s Vandemataram and Mujibar Rahman’s 100 Years of Jallianwalabagh Massacre: News Views Reflection have been selected for the Competition on Indian Documentary Films section.