Nashik International Film Festival begins tomorrow

So far 350 entries, including films from Germany and France, have been received for the four-day festival, NIFF Director Mukesh Kaneri told newspersons here last evening.

The event, organised by city-based Metro Foundation of India and Kala Vaibhav Sanstha, will have a competition section of mini films, documentaries and animation for which Maharashtra Government has sponsored prizes of Rs 3 lakh.

Golden Camera Award, instituted in the honour of Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, will also be presented on the occasion.

The entries, including 27 mini films, 12 documentaries and 10 animation have been received from abroad and cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Surat, Banglore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and New Delhi, Kaneri added.

A special financial package has been given to the NIFF by National Film Museum and Film Division.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal will inaugurate the festival tomorrow evening, while Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has assured to attend the concluding ceremony on August 2, he said.

The fest will open with Phalke's first film `Kaliya Mardan'. Japanese movie `An Autumn Afternoon and Sweden's `The Man Who Gave Up Smoking' are among the foreign films to be screened.

Marathi films like `Ayodhyecha Raja', `Amar Bhupali' `Harishchandrachi Factory' and `Mohityanchi Manjula' will add regional flavour to the festival.

Personalities from Hindi and Marathi film and TV industries like Mrinal Kulkarni, Amol Kolhe, Avinash Narkar, Tejaswini, Mukesh Rishi and child artist Avika Gor will be present during the festival.