Director Mira Nair utilises India’s culture of cinema worship to address the country’s alarming HIV/AIDS challenge in her new short narrative film.

Nair's AIDS Jaago premieres at the 38th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here later this week in the Film India Worldwide section along with Toronto-based Richie Mehta’s Amal and Chris Smith’s award-winning The Pool.

Though Nair will not be at the festival this year, the Wisconsin-based Smith, whose film was shot in Panjim returns here for its Asia premiere.

The Pool, an American film made entirely in Hindi won the 2007 Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
There will also be a strong presence of French filmmakers and cinema at IFFI Goa with veteran filmmaker and indophile Alain Corneau leading a 15-member French delegation comprising of Florent-Emilio Siri, Jan Kounen and actress Fanny Valette among others.

A bouquet of over a dozen French films, among them the Oscar entry Orchestra Seats, the box-office hit TAXI 4, and three must watch films of this year, 99 francs, The Second Wind and Intimate Enemy is among the over 200 films being showcased this year. India has entered Lenin Rajendran’s Ratri Mazha (Malayalam) and Samir Chanda's Ekti Nadir Galpa in the competition section.

Shoaib Mansoor’s Khuda ke Liye with its controversial post-9/11 Pakistan theme will be the country’s first-ever entry at the film fest.

SRK to open fete
Bollywood heart-throb Shah Rukh Khan will open the festival in Panjim on Friday, ironically in an affair totally shorn of Bollywood-style entertainment.