Chandigarh to host its first international film festival
Chandigarh: Chandigarh is set to host its first international film festival -- Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF) from March 27 to 31.
The opening film of the festival is Cannes Award-winning French film ‘The Taste of Things’ starring Juliette Binoche.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Anh Hung Tran, the historical romantic drama won the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023.
The closing film is South Korea’s highest-grossing film of 2024 to date -- the Horror-Mystery-Thriller ’Exhuma’ (Pamyo), which premiered at the 2024 Berlinale.
Both the opening and closing films will have their India premieres at the festival and shall be open-air screenings in the Government Museum & Arts Gallery, Sector 10, the main venue of CIFF 2024.
The festival will showcase 24 award-winning international features in the World Cinema section, 17 indie gems in the India Unveiled, 27 shorts in Brief Encounters, a curated section of children’s films and timeless classics.
Programming highlights include internationally acclaimed films like 2024 Oscar contender Holocaust drama, ’The Zone of Interest’, Palme d’Or Winner and Academy Nominee Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, 2023 Academy Award-winner, ’The Whale’ starring Brendan Fraser, a gripping documentary which won at Berlinale, ’Seven Winters in Tehran’, Singapore’s Oscar entry, ’Breaking Ice’, the Roshan Mathew starrer ’Paradise’, and the animation feature ’Sultana’s Dreams’ among others.
Award-winning Indian features and docs such as Toronto International Film Festival winner Marathi film ‘Sthal’, Venice Film Festival film ‘Stolen’, Rima Das’ Assamese film ’Tora’s Husband’, Deepa Mehta’s TIFF film, ’I am Sirat’, auteur filmmaker Gurvinder Singh’s Punjabi feature ’Adh Chanani Raat’, Harjit Singh’s documentary on the late Punjabi painter and writer’ Imroz-A Walk Down The Memory Lane’, Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Malayalam film ’Malaikottai Vaaliban’, Sreemoyee Singh’s documentary, ’And, Towards Happy Alleys’, an ode to Iranian cinema and poetry featuring Jafar Panahi, Varun Grover’s short ’Kiss’ and the Riz Ahmed starrer short ’Dammi’.
International features, ‘Roleless’, ’The Tenants’ will have India premieres at the festival and short films Dammi and Suddenly TV will have their Asia premiere.