Panaji: Around 7,000 delegates have registered for the 57th International Film Festival of India (Iffi), with the expenditure for this year’s festival estimated at approximately Rs 30 crore.Festival director Ashutosh Gowariker, while speaking at the curtain-raiser of the event, said, “Organising the festival comes at a significant cost, and the expenditure is increasing. We currently have around 7,000 delegates registered, with six more days to go before the festival. We are hopeful that the publicity and coverage in the coming days will help boost registrations and bring in more delegates.”Chief minister Pramod Sawant said, “We warmly welcome delegates from across India and abroad, and the Goa govt is making concerted efforts to ensure they have a good experience during their stay. The approximate expenditure for this year’s festival is around Rs 30 crore, which is a substantial investment by the Goa govt.”This edition of the festival will feature over 150 international films from 86 countries, selected from more than 1,900 submissions representing 137 countries. Themed ‘Stories Without Borders’, the festival will showcase 76 Indian films across 18 languages. Poland’s ‘Fatherland’ will open the festival, while Singapore’s ‘We Are All Strangers’ will be the closing film. Spain is the country of honour and Russia the partner country. Two new sections, animation and films about films, have been introduced. The festival will also host masterclasses, a BRICS cinema showcase and initiatives to promote emerging filmmakers.Secretary of the ministry of information and broadcasting Chanchal Kumar said this year’s theme, ‘Stories Without Borders’, reflects the ability of cinema to transcend geographical, linguistic and cultural barriers. He also highlighted India’s rich storytelling traditions across languages, cultures and communities.The festival has announced an enhanced prize structure for its competitive categories, with the winner of the prestigious Golden Peacock Award for Best Film set to receive a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh.The revised awards were detailed by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) managing director Dhiraj Singh.Under the enhanced prize structure, the Best Director will receive the Silver Peacock Award along with Rs 20 lakh, while the Best Actor (Male) and Best Actor (Female) awards carry a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh each.The Special Jury Award will carry Rs 20 lakh, while the winner of the Best Debut Feature Film of a Director category will receive Rs 15 lakh. The ICFT-Unesco Gandhi Medal will comprise a certificate and medal.The competitive sections this year will include 15 films in the international competition, seven films in the Best Debut Feature Films competition and 10 films competing for the ICFT-Unesco Gandhi Medal.The 57th edition will also offer a substantial international showcase, featuring nine world premieres, two international premieres, 24 Asia premieres and 116 India premieres.The international competition jury will be chaired by filmmaker Aanand L Rai, with Bogdan Muresanu, Maria Alejandra Rojas, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke and Sol Berruezo Pichon-Riviere as members.The ICFT-Unesco Gandhi Medal jury will be headed by Ahmed Bedjaoui, with Maria Cristina Iglesias, Georges Dupont and Manouj Kadaamh as members.The festival will also host interactive sessions featuring prominent film personalities, including Girish Kasaravalli, Farhan Akhtar, Ashutosh Gowariker and Madhur Bhandarkar.
