Panaji :: November 20, 2019… The grand opening of the 50th Golden Jubilee edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2019) was held in the presence of Bollywood megastar Shri Amitabh Bachchan who was the Chief Guest, renowned actor megastar Shri Rajinikanth, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Shri Prakash Javdekar, Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, Minister of State for (Independent Charge) AYUSH and MOS Defence Shri Shripad Y. Naik and Minister of State for Environment Shri Babul Syupriyo, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Amit Khare at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium in Taleigao, Plateau, today.
IFFI is jointly organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the Goa Government’s Entertainment Society of Goa
The grand inaugural ceremony of the 50th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year was hosted by ace filmmaker Shri Karan Johar.
While speaking on the occasion, Dr. Pramod Sawant said Goa is perfect destination to host IFFI and also an perfect destination of film shooting. Many Indian and foreign films shoot in Goa which play an important role in economic development as well as providing jobs. Our plan is to make Goa an important destination for film shooting. Our Government he said will be focussing on the factors such as film tourism, skill enhancement, shooting with current technology etc:-. We are looking forward for upgradation of our infrastructure to give film makers better film making experience in the state, the Chief Minister concluded
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Prakash Javdekar said that there are beautiful locations in our country for film shooting. The Indian as well as foreign film producers have to take 10-15 permissions. But now we have proposed to introduce single window system to take such permission which will ease the work of the producers to a great extend in film shootings.
A postal stamp commemorating 50th edition of IFFI was also released on the occasion by Mr. Javadekar.
Chief Secretary, Shri Parimal Rai IAS, Vice Chairperson of Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), Shri Subhash Phaldessai, Director of the festival Shri Chaitanya Prasad, Shri Manoj Tiwari, MP, were among those were present at the event.
Superstar Rajinikanth was bestowed with the Icon of Golden Jubilee award during the opening ceremony of International Film Festival of India 2019. Speaking on the occasion Shri Rajinikant said that he was extremely happy to receive the award. He thanked the Indian government for honouring him with this award. The megastar said that he dedicates this award to all his producers, directors and technicians who worked in his films.
This year, IFFI honoured one of French cinema’s iconic actresses, Isabelle Huppert, with the festival’s highest honour Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening ceremony. She has appeared in more than 120 films and is the most nominated actress for the Cesar Award, with 16 nominations.
Amitabh Bachchan was also felicitated during the opening ceremony of IFFI 2019. Shri Bacchan said that he has no words to express my gratitude to IFFI for honouring him for also having a retrospective of his films.
A special felicitation recognised the contributions of Indian legends like Ramesh Sippy, N. Chandra and PC Sreeram at the inaugural event.
The 50th edition celebrates cinematic excellence from Russia, in the Country Focus section. Eight films will be showcased in this segment.
John Bailey, cinematographer and former President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences heads the International Jury of the 50th International Film Festival of India. Part of the Jury at IFFI 2019 are French filmmaker Robin Campillo, also on the Cannes 2019 International Jury; Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yang, Scottish filmmaker- writer and cinematographer Lynne Ramsay, and eminent Bollywood filmmaker Ramesh Sippy. They were felicitated on the occasion. Musicians Shankar Mahadevan gave a riveting performance with the Godfather of Indian ‘Jazz Louis Banks. regaled their fusion performance.
The opening was followed by the premiere of the movie ‘TheAspern Papers’ directed by Julien Landais. The director and cast of the film were felicitated at the inaugural.
Earlier, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Shri Amit Khare, IAS, welcomed the gathering while Festival Director Shri Chaitaanya Prasad proposed a vote of thanks.
