GUWAHATI, Oct 24 - The second edition of the Guwahati International Film Festival will kick off in the city from Thursday.
Organised by Jyoti Chitraban in association with Dr Bhupen Hazarika Regional Film and Television Institute and with support from the Government of Assam, the film festival will be held in altogether five theatres located at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra and Jyoti Chitraban.
According to the organisers, altogether 108 films from different countries will be screened at the festival during the seven-day long schedule from October 25 to 31.
Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua�s recent directorial venture Bhoga Khirikee (Broken Window) will be the opening film of the festival. The 122-minute long feature film is the first Assamese production of Purple Pebble Pictures owned by star actress Priyanka Chopra and Easterly Entertainment owned by Shahnaab Alam in association with RA Creations. The producers of the film are Priyanka Chopra, Dr Madhu Chopra and Shahnaab Alam.
On the other hand, Black Crow, a film from Turkey directed by Muhammet Tayfur Aydin, will be the closing film of the festival. The 98-minute long film, shot in Iraq, Turkey and France, explores a woman�s struggle to get into Iran where she is banned.
In the World Cinema section of the festival, altogether 61 films will be screened. Among these films, Cosmic Sans, a film by Nevio Marasovic from Croatia, Paradise�89, directed by Madara Dislere from Latvia, Germany, and The Pagan King, directed by Aigars Grauba from Latvia, will have their Asia premiere at this festival.
Again, Haldaa, directed by Tauquir Ahmed from Bangladesh, Miracle, directed by Egle Vertelyte from Lithuania, Obey, directed by Jamie Jones from the United Kingdom, and The Movie of My Life by Selton Mello from Brazil, will have their India premiere at the festival.
This time, the ASEAN region is the area of focus for this festival. In this section, altogether 11 films will be screened and among them, In the Life of Music, directed by Caylee So and Sok Visal from Cambodia, will have its India premiere in this event.
Altogether seven films will be screened in the India Regional Films section, including Maacher Jhol, directed by Pratim D Gupta, Poorna, directed by Rahul Bose, Sarvann, directed by Karaan Guliani, Swapaanam, directed by Shaji N Karun, Take Off, directed by Mahesh Narayanan, To Let, directed by Chezhian Ra, and Ventilator, directed by Rajesh Mapuskar.
Altogether five films of European filmmaker Goran Paskaljevic will be screened in the retrospective section � How Harry Became a Tree, Midwinter Night�s Dream, Tango Argentino, When Day Breaks and The Optimists.
In the tribute section, Aparoopa, featuring the late Biju Phukan, and Prabhati Pakhir Gaan, directed by the late Munin Baruah, will be screened at the festival.
In the North East competition section, Aamrityu, directed by Arup Manna, Calendar, directed by Himjyoti Talukdar, Chor, directed by Khanjan Kishore Nath, Kaaneen, directed by Monjul Baruah, Phehujali, directed by Biswajeet Bora, and Xhoixobote Dhemalite, directed by Bidyut Kotoky, will be screened. Among these films, Kaaneen will have its India premiere at the festival.
There will also be four masterclass sessions at the festival to be chaired by Frank Martinez from the US, and Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Amrit Pritam and Debajit Changmai from India. An open forum will also be held on the topics �Is there a �regional� in films?, �Filming is fine, what about sales?�, �Scripting success in stories�, �Co-production: Reality, myth and necessity�, �Smaller festivals: Breaking new grounds� and �Emerging trends in Assamese cinema�.
