Bengalooru International Film Fest

By: Latika R Chuganey

Year 2K8 will kick off with a dash of Lights! Camera! Action! with Suchitra Cinema & Cultural Academy's Second Bengalooru International Film Festival (BIFF) scheduled to take place from January 3-10.

The festival will be inaugurated at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall on January 3, where the opening film for this festival will be screened. It will then move over to the newly opened Vision cinemas on Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road for the screening of over 100 films from about 30 countries in the world for a week from January 4. While the two regular screens of Vision Cinemas will be used for the screenings, an additional air-conditioned auditorium is being created for screening several films in DVD format, making it a total of three outlets and offering 650 seats per show. There will be five shows a day at each of the three venues. A couple of other halls adjacent to Vision Cinemas are also being hired for organizing the screening of more films in DVD format if necessary, at least two major seminars, special lectures and workshops and a number of more conferences and one-to-one interviews with festival delegates and eminent film personalities.

Many International delegates and nearly 50 Indian delegates from all over the country are expected to enrich the festival, which will have various sections like cinema of the world, world classics, retrospectives, tributes to outstanding directors, actors and technicians and special interest films.

The organizer, Suchitra Cinema & Cultural Academy is a popular cultural landmark in the city, and has been serving cine lovers for over 37 years. It will soon develop into a multi-dimensional conglomerate, addressing itself to the progress of media, literature theatre and other performing arts.