The 28th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is all set to be inaugurated on December 15. A total of 183 films from 42 countries, including 52 shorts and documentaries, will be screened across 10 venues till December 22 for cinephiles.

Star-studded inaugural ceremony

Amitabh Bachchan will inaugurate the festival, along with Jaya Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, in the presence of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Rani Mukerji, Mahesh Bhatt, Arijit Singh, Kumar Sanu, Shatrughan Sinha and Sourav Ganguly will join them on stage. Kidnap actress Rukmini Maitra will be the thali girl at the inaugural ceremony. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s iconic film Abhimaan — starring Amitabh and Jaya — will be the inaugural film this time.

The inaugural ceremony will be back at Netaji Indoor Stadium after two years because of Covid. This is the first time that KIFF will be held for a second time in a calendar year. The 27th edition of the festival was held in April this year.

Exhibitions and masterclasses

Cine buffs can watch films of their choice in 10 venues including Nandan (1, 2 and 3), Sisir Mancha, Rabindra Sadan, Nazrul Tirtha, Chalachchitra Satabarsha Bhavan and Rabindra Okakura Bhavan. A special exhibition on Amitabh Bachchan will be held at Gaganendra Pradarshashala and Nazrul Tirtha. Another one featuring the recently-deceased auteur Jean-Luc Godard will be held at the Nandan foyer and Nazrul Tirtha.

Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra will deliver the year’s Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture on December 18 at Sisir Mancha, while cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee, actor Neeraj Kabi and filmmaker Shaji N. Karun will hold masterclasses at Bangla Akademi on December 17, 19 and 20, respectively.

Tributes and special screenings

Films of Alain Resnais, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michael Cacoyannis, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Asit Sen, Bharati Devi, K. Asif, Ali Akbar Khan and Dilip Kumar will be screened at the festival as part of the centenary tribute. A special tribute will be paid to Pradip Mukherjee, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Angela Lansbury and Tarun Majumder at the festival.

Goutam Ghose’s Mujib in Calcutta and Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Nazarband will have a special screening at the 28th KIFF, along with Mejbaur Rahman Sumon's Hawa, Victor Mukherjee’s Lakadbaggha and Mano Khalil’s Neighbours. Tathagata Bhattacharjee’s Akorik, Indraadip Dasgupta’s Uttwaran and Ratool Mukherjee’s Ikir Mikir are among the films selected in the Bengali Panorama category. Director Subrata Sen’s Samaresh Basur Projapoti, based on a once-banned novel, is competing in the International Competition - Innovation in Moving Images category.