A bevy of Bollywood and international stars descended in the city on Saturday to attend the inauguration of the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). The eight day long film festival has Australia as the theme country for this year.
Amongst the Bollywood stars who attended the event include Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Waheeda Rehman, Maheesh Bhatt, Nandita Das and others.
Internationally acclaimed Iranian director, Majid Majidi; Australian director, Philip Noyce and Australian actor (who featured in The Mentalist) and director, Simon Baker;were amongst the international stars who attended the event.
West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who welcomed guests at the inauguration said: “The special attraction at this year’s KIFF is 100 years of Bengali cinema. I welcome all guests and cinema lovers to the City of Joy”.
While Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the event; Dada Saheb Phalke Awardee, Soumitra Chatterjee was also present on the dais.
More than 300 films, including feature films, shorts and documentaries, will be screened in 16 theatres across the city and Howrah.
A film directory chronicling the major films made during the period of 1917-2017 will be published at the fest to mark 100 years of Bengali cinema. Fourteen Bengali classics have also been selected by the jury for screening at the eight-day event.
Films by Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, among others will be screened at the festival.