47th IFFI - opens with Polish Film ‘Afterimage’ of Andrej Wajda

CURTAINS UP FOR THE 47^TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF INDIA

-Honours Korean Film Maker im kwon Taek with Lifetime Achievement Award -Salutes legendary S. P. Balasubrahmanyam with Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality

The 47th International Film Festival of India was inaugurated in Goa, today in the presence of Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha, Chief Minister of Goa Laxmikant Parsekar and  Minister of State, AYUSH Shripad Naik . Guest of Honour and  Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Ajay Mittal, Secretary I&B Ministry, RK Shrivastava, Chief Secretary Goa, Festival Director C. Senthil Rajan, Ameya Abhyankar-CEO, Entertainment Society were also present  to light the ceremonial lamp.Venkaiah Naidu presented the ‘Centenary Indian Film Personality of the Year-2016’ to legendary singer Padma Bhushan S. P. Balasubrahmanyam for his remarkable, extraordinary and exceptional journey in Indian cinema as a singer, actor and producer. He has been one of the most prolific singers of the country with over 40,000 song recordings to his credit. Speaking on the occasion, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam dedicated the Award to his mother and the Indian soldiers on the border.

Choreographed by the master choreographer, Ganesh Acharya, captivating performances at the opening ceremony celebrated the journey and contribution of women in Indian Cinema and themed as ‘Ode to a Woman’. Dance sequences featured the evolutionary journey of contribution of woman to Indian cinema as a dreamer, radical, leader, creator, fighter, challenger and game changer. Supported by projections of the life and cinema of the period on the background and numbers on stage performances presented a seamless beautiful act recreating the nostalgic memories of woman traversing changing decades.The other celebrities attending the opening include members of the International Jury (Ivan Passer, Larry Smith, Lordan Zafranovic, Nagesh Kukunoor and Leila Kilani) and Indian Panorama jury, Nana Patekar, Mukesh Khanna, Mrinal Kulkarni, Divya Dutta, Sudheer Mishra, Nagesh Kukunoor, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Goutam Ghose.Chief Guest veteran film maker Ramesh Sippy of ‘Sholay’ fame felicitated internationally acclaimed Korean film director and writer, Im Kwon Taek with the prestigious ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.