Marathi films 'Godavari' and 'Me Vasantrao' and Dimasa movie 'Semkhor' are among 15 films chosen for the international competition section at the India International Film Festival starting in Goa on November 20.
The 15 films will compete for Best Film (Golden Peacock) that carries a cash prize of Rs 40 lakh while Best Director (Silver Peacock, certificate and a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh), Best Actor (male and female -- Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh each and a Special Jury Award for a film or an individual.
Directed by Nikhil Mahajan, 'Godavari' is set in present-day Nashik and tells the story of a family that is coping with death while 'Me Vasantrao' directed by Nipun Avinash Dharmadhikari is a biopic of late music master Vasantrao Deshpande.
'Semkhor' directed by Aimee Baruah, who also donned the role of the protagonist, depicts a midwife confronted with unthinkable choices. This is also the opening film of the Indian Panorama section of the festival.
Hamy Ramezan's Any Day Now (Finland) is another film, which is loosely based on the director's childhood experience, in the competition section and it tells the story of an Iranian refugee family waiting for a decision of whether they will be granted official asylum status.
Charlotte (Paraguay) directed by Simon Franco deals with the journey of an actress who in the twilight of her career reinventing herself while Intregalde, a film from Romania directed by Radu Muntean, depicts the experiences of a group of people on a humanitarian mission arrive in a remote area of Transylvania.
A political satire set in the near future America that closed its borders and become more insular than ever, Land of Dreams (New Mexico, US) by Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azaria follows an Iranian American woman who is on a journey to discover the core of what it means to be a free American.
Directed by Mohammad Rabby Mridha, the Bangladeshi film No Ground Beneath The Feet is another film in the competition section and it deals with the life of an ambulance driver Saiful and depicts moral decay, murder, deception, and social bashing.
The film from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina 'Once We Were Good For You' by Branko Schmidt is the story of veterans who find that Croatia is not the ideal that they dreamt after 25 years of the Homeland War.
Japanese film 'Ring Wandering' by Masakazu Kaneko is another offering in the competition section that deals with the life of Sosuke, who aspires to be a manga artist while Czech film 'Saving One Who Was Dead' (Director: Václav Kadrnka), Russian film The Dorm (Roman Vasyanov), Brazilian movie 'The First Fallen' (Rodrigo de Oliveira), Polish movie Leader (Katia Priwieziencew) and Russian film Moscow Does Not Happen (Dmitry Fedorov) are also competing for honours.
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