Iranian filmmaker Nader Saeivar’s The Witness, edited by acclaimed director Jafar Panahi, will compete for the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger in the international competition category at the 30th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) alongside 13 other entries from across the globe, the organisers have announced.
The 2024 edition of KIFF will be held in Kolkata from December 4 to December 11.
Also part of the lineup in the international competition section are Ronan Tronchot’s Paternel (France), Milko Lazarov’s Tarika (Bulgaria), Leo Bello’s Notary of Souls (Brazil), Naoya Kusaba’s Yukiko a.k.a. (Japan), OH Jungmin’s House of the Seasons (South Korea) and Ana Endara’s Beloved Tropic (US).
Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gerber Bicecci’s Dead Man’s Switch, Alessandra Stefani’s Mycelia (US), Davoud Atyabi’s Girls of the Sea (Afghanistan), Li Pu’s Undoing Time (China) and Gustavo Galvao’s Bleak Sunday Afternoon (Brazil) are also part of the selection. Shyam Fernando’s Teach Me and Ashish Avikunthak’s Vidhvastha are the entries from India in the section titled International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images.
Bengali filmmaker Amartya Bhattacharya’s Lahari will be competing in the Indian languages section at the film festival alongside Aaryan Chandra Prakash’s Aajoor, Tanmaya Shekhar’s Nookad Naatak, Sanjib Dey’s Jagan, Navin Chandra Ganesh’s Jhanjhaarpur and Krishnegowda’s Lacchi.
Pushparaj Birhade’s Savitri Cheya Leki, Anchehalli Shivakumar’s Ratnamma, Maisam Ali’s Beqayaam, Hiren Vora’s Burkha The Veil, Umesh Mohan Bagade’s Cineman and Soumodeep Ghosh Chowdhury’s No Maas No Din Ebong Antaheen are also part of the lineup for competition in Indian languages.
The Asian Select section at KIFF 2024 includes Wan Bo’s Qian Tang River (China), Mansour Vosoughi’s Barahout (Iran), Chaminda Ilukwela’s Magam Soli (Sri Lanka), Chanho Lee’s Water Lilies (South Korea), Yuda Kurniawan (Indonesia), Hoby Zhang’s Within a Budding Grove (China) and Yasumasa Konno’s Still Alive (Japan).
Ranajit Ray’s Putulnama (India) and Soumendu’s The Broken Mirror are the Indian entries in the Asian Select category.
