Magic of IFFI

As curtains are ready to go up on the 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, all eyes may not be on Asia’s oldest and India’s biggest festival. Yet, connoisseurs of cinema have reasons to rejoice. The festival will showcase more than 200 films from around the globe and raise a toast to the best of world cinema. Apart from Bangladesh being the country in focus, films like Denmark’s Oscar nominee ‘Another Round’ by Thomas Vinterberg, the world premiere of ‘Mehrunisa’ and Japanese film ‘Wife of a Spy’ by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, which won the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice, are the high points.

As a rule, the festival is held in November. Last year, it had to be postponed due to the pandemic. However, shifting the event to January is not the only transition. Unveiling today in a hybrid format, both the opening and closing ceremonies will take place in real time. There will be a judicious mix of auditorium and virtual screenings as concerns about piracy have been raised. Besides, a festival that claims much glory in the number of delegates it attracts has capped it at 2,500. The peripheral events have been given a miss too.

Whether it can rustle up the magic in its present avatar of physical and virtual screenings and limited number of guests is not the only question that needs to be asked. Can it bring back the focus on auditorium screenings and help regain viewers’ confidence that has been all but lost in the wake of Covid-19? For the film industry, the mood at IFFI can be a game-changer, if not turn the tide completely. While the festival has been losing some of its sheen in the last few years, sceptics are doubtful if the virtual format can capture the spirit of a festival, essentially a community affair. In 2020, the world has seen pared-down versions of film festivals. IFFI, too, has gone down the same road but in its success could lie the way forward.