The 51st edition of International Film Festival of India, which is taking place from 16-24 January 2021 in Goa, will capture the new narratives that have emerged in cinema today, said  Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Director General, Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.  Amidst COVID-19, the IFFI Team has been working hard collaborating and curating films for the festival.

“We are trying to get or capture the new narratives that have emerged in cinema today, whether it is storytelling, storytellers, new business models or the use of technology. Today it is content versus technology, technology versus creativity, and creativity versus audience taste. And what we are looking at is a kind of a convergence model which is emerging. I think it is a very bold step as far as the International Film circuit is concerned because we are trying to bring forth a balance between the virtual and the real,” said  Prasad in his special address at the Curtain Raiser of IFFI 2021, held during CII Big Picture Summit.

The Festival will take place in a hybrid mode, informed the Additional Director General, Directorate of Film Festivals. “It’s a very bold move on part of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which has given us a go ahead to organize this festival in a hybrid form. Now, the hybrid form means that we would have certain segments which would be in the virtual category, and there would be certain segments which would be in the physical mode,” he added.

Prasad said that he was elated at the overwhelming response the organizers received for the 51^st edition of IFFI. “We are absolutely overwhelmed by the kind of response that we have received in terms of delegate registration that has come to us from different parts of the world and the kind of participation that we have seen because we thought it would be difficult to get things moving.”

The 9-day IFFI, which is also oldest in Asia, will showcase the works of a wide variety of filmmakers across the world with masterclasses and knowledge series in accordance with the norms set under the COVID-19 safety protocol.

“Indian Panorama has its own quality and platform of Indian cinema. But as far as World Cinema is concerned, this year we’ve been overwhelmed by the number of films that have come for the India Premiere, the world premiere, and the International premiere, etc.

He announced that the upcoming edition of IFFI roughly about 224 movies will be screened.  “Of this, about 47 movies would be in Indian Panorama section, 26 in the feature section, 21 in the non-feature section, while the remaining are for the world cinema section,”  Prasad said.

“It’s been a great experience putting the jigsaw puzzle together and we are absolutely inspired by the kind of response that we have received from all stakeholders across the world,” he added.