Biffes to kick off in B'luru, Mysuru on January 28

A galaxy of stars will descend on Bengaluru and Mysuru where the eighth edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (Biffes) will be held simultaneously between January 28 and February 4.

Bollywood actor Jaya Bachchan will inaugurate the festival in front of the Vidhana Soudha on January 28 at 5.30 pm, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Monday.

Addressing the media in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the festivities would have a sprinkling of distinguished guests such as Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner Gulzar, Hollywood producer Ashok Amritraj, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, actor D Venkatesh and filmmaker Aparna Sen.

The Kannada film fraternity, including actors, technicians, directors and producers will grace the closing ceremony on February 4 in Mysuru, where eminent actor Nana Patekar, too, will participate. Sandalwood will declare a holiday on the day. Actor Kamal Haasan has been also invited. While danseuses Shobana and Nirupama Ranjendra will perform during the inaugural ceremony, director Mani Ratnam and his actor-wife Suhasini will be seen during the course of the festival.

They will participate alongside Gulzar, Jaya Bachchan, Ashok Amritraj, Patekar and Bhansali in a special interaction.

Regular screenings for the delegates will commence on January 29 – nearly 1,000 delegates have requested for registration. Films made by world-renowned filmmakers such as Istvan Szabo from Hungary, Jafer Panahi from Iran, Jia Zhang Ke from China, Hou Hsiao-Hsien from Japan, Emin Alper from Turkey, Jacques Audiard from France, Christian Petzold from Germany, Nanni Moretti from Italy and others will be screened in the event.

Award-winning film ‘Thithi’, directed by Raama Reddy, will be screened during the opening ceremony. Biffes has two special sections: FIPRESCI Film Critics award winners and NETPAC award winners section.

A new section for documentary films curated by ‘Vikalp’ will be being started from this edition.Invited delegates will include filmmakers, journalists, film critics, film festival programmers, academicians from across the world. Kannada filmmakers and their team whose films are on show in the festival will be invited for the festival as special guests. Workshops, seminars and master classes will be held.

Delegate registration

Delegate registration will commence on January 19 at Badami House, NR Square, Bengaluru; Suchitra Film Society, Bengaluru; Information Department Office, Infantry Road, Bengaluru; Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce premises in Bengaluru; and the Information Department Office in Mysuru shortly. Online registration facility is also available.