The 51st International Film Festival of India will open with the Indian premiere of the Denmark film Druk internationally known as Another Round  directed by Thomas Vinterberg.

The Danish nominee  for the Best International Film at the Oscars will be screened on January 16 after the formal inaugural of IFFI in Goa. Another Round, Vinterberg’s 110 minute film is a sobering comedy about aging, alcoholism, and friendship between men.

IFFI will also have the World Premier of Sandeep Kumar directed Mehrunisa as a mid-fest film.

The closing film at IFFI will be the India Premier of the historical drama ‘Wife of a Spy’ by Kiyoshi Kurosawa on 24th January. The Japanese film bagged Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice International Film Festival.

IFFI will take place in hybrid format from January 16-24 with social distanced physical screening, digital screenings, press conferences and industry talks. A  total of 224 films from across the globe will be screened during IFFI. This includes 21 non-feature films and 26 feature films under the Indian Panorama films section.

 Another Round, Top Oscar 2021 Foreign Film Contender

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj8Jmz_srDg&feature=emb_logo

Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Lars Ranthe, Magnus Millang and Thomas Bo Larsen, Another Round won Best Film – the first time a Danish film has won that category in the European Film Awards .

Mikkelsen won the Best European Actor award for his portrayal of lead character Martin, a school teacher who sets out to test a theory that he will improve his life by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in his blood.

Vinterberg, won the Best European Director award and the Best European Script along with Tobias Lindholm.

Another Round was produced  with support from Film i Väst (SE), Danish Film Institute (DK), TV2 Denmark (DK), Eurimages, Netherlands Film Fund (NL), Swedish Film Institute (SE), Netherlands Film Production Incentive (NL) and Creative Europe MEDIA programme.  TrustNordisk is the sales agent of Another Round.

Vinterberg has previously made himself known for films such as Festen (1998) which won the Cannes Film Festival’s jury award and was nominated for Palme d’Or and Golden Globe, Submarino (2010), Jakten (2012) which was nominated for an Oscar and Kollektivet (2016) which was in the main competition in Berlinale.

Mehrunisa, lead role played by 87-year old Farrukh Jaffar

Starring Farrukh Jaffar (Umarao Jaan, Swades, Peepli Live, Sultan, Secret Superstar, Photograph, Gulabo Sitabo), Tulika Baneejee and Ankita Dubey, Mehrunisa directed by  India-born Austrian filmmaker Sandeep Kumar narrates the story of a woman’s lifelong dream.

“To achieve her lifelong dream, an 80 year old actress takes on the male-dominated Indian film industry, and unwillingly becomes a leading advocate for women’s rights,” reads the brief synopsis of the film.

The entire film was shot in and around Lucknow for 25 days with a three-member Austrian crew and all-Lucknow based actors and support crew members.

Wife of a Spy, Venice Film Festival Winner

Cult Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, best known for his forays into horror and the supernatural, tackles wartime Japan.

Starring Yu Aoi and Issei Takahashi, Wife of a Spy (Spy no Tsuma) follows the story of a couple in 1940 in the city of Kobe before the outbreak of World War II. A man accidentally stumbles upon a state secret and tries to bring it to light, while his wife takes action to ensure his safety.

Kurosawa got recognition and fame internationally with his 1997 horror-thriller Cure. In 2015, Kurosawa received the best director Award in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. Tokyo Sonata won the jury prize in Un Certain Regard in 2008.