47th International Film Festival of India kicks off in Goa today

Panaji [Goa], Nov. 20 (ANI): Goa is all set to host the 47th International Film Festival of India, which begins from today. Veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy will inaugurate the festival in the presence of Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu. This time, the Republic of Korea is the focus country of IFFI 2016 and South Korea's Ambassador to India Hyun Cho will grace the opening ceremony. Festival Director C. Senthil Rajan told reporters in Panaji yesterday that the IFFI this year will be screening around 300 films from nearly 90 countries. IFFI 2016 will also have a special screening package of the award winning films from the first ever BRICS Film festival, held in Delhi recently. IFFI, the oldest film festival of Asia, is going to have a line-up of esteemed personalities from across the globe, including with legendary Korean filmmaker Im Kwon Taek being honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Opening Ceremony tomorrow at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Goa. Polish drama film Afterimage directed by Andrzej Wajda would open the eight-day long festival, where close to 300 films from 90 countries will be screened. The Age of Shadows directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon will be the closing film for the festival on November 28. The film is also South Korea's official entry for the Academy Awards this year. The lifetime achievement award this year would be given to renowned Korean filmmaker Kwon Taek Im, who is known for his films like Wife, The Family Pedigree among others. As a part of 'Clean India' campaign, the festival will showcase a special package of 20 award winning short films basaed on 'Swachh Bharat' theme. (ANI)