Founded in 1952, the International Film Festival of India is one of the most significant and culturally important film festivals to be held in India. Even though the first IFFI was held in Mumbai in 1952, the festival was subsequently taken to Madras, Delhi, Calcutta and Trivandrum, and now, its current location resides in Goa.
A Symbol of Friendship and Cooperation
The International Film festival of India started during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime in 2004. It was first organized by the Films Division of the Indian Government with the patronage of the Prime Minister of India. Since then, it has been standing out from the conventional film festivals and it is known for its innovations, such as beach screenings of the movies. When the festival first started, it was non-competitive and had 23 countries participating with 40 full length and a 100 short films. Three Indian films had the honor of screening in the first IFFI and they were “Awara” (Hindi), and “Patala Bhairavi” (Telegu). Since 1987, the Golden Peacock Award or the award for the best film has been given to masterpieces like “Iron Island”, “The Other Bank” and “Thy Womb”. Some of the notable actors to get the Silver Peacock Award for the best actor are Marcin Dorosinski, Alexel Serebriakov and Dulal Sarkar. Since its inception, the IFFI has been exposing India to a vast range of films from diverse cultures of the world.
Bigger and Stronger
Since its shift to Goa, the IFFI has grown in unimaginable ways in terms of influence and popularity. The 44th IFFI in 2013 was held in Panaji in Goa, and it had prominent actors Suzan Sarandon and Michelle Yeoh as the chief guests in the opening and closing ceremonies respectively. This is the list of awards that were given during the festival:
- Best Director: Kaushik Ganguli
- Special Jury Award: Thou Gild’st The Even
- Best Actor (Male): Alon Moni Aboutboul
- Best Actor (Female): Boczarska Magdalena
- Special Centenary Award: Meghe Dhaka Tara
- Golden Peacock Award: Beatriz’s War
Website :www.iffi.nic.in