Movie buffs are in for long treat

The Film Festival, to be organised by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, will present awards in four categories. The Best Film will walk away with the ‘Golden Berunda’ prize that carries Rs 10 lakh and the Best Director in World Cinema will be awarded the ‘Silver Berunda’ prize that comes with Rs five lakh, T S Nagabharana, Festival director and chairman of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, told reporters here on Friday.

The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Jury Award, consisting of a prize of Rs two lakh, will go to the Best Film in Asian Cinema (films made between January 1, 2010 and June 15, 2011). Suchitra Sanman, the Critics’ Award for the Best Film in Chitrabharati (Indian Cinema) (films made between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011), will carry Rs two lakh and the film societies’ pick for Best Film in Kannada Cinema (for films made between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011) will also carry the same cash prize.

At the festival, the Country Focus will be on Polish Cinema, Egyptian Cinema, Asian Cinema, Chitrabharati (Contemporary Indian) and Kannada Cinemas (Contemporary Kannada).

Retrospectives will comprise films of Michael Cacoyannis and Theo Angelopoulos of Greece; Hsiao-hsien Hou of Taiwan; Dariush Mehrjui of Iran; G Aravindan from Malayalam cinema and Puttanna Kanagal from Kannada.

The festival also includes Special Sections of Political Cinema, films of FIPRESCI (The International Federation of Film Critics) award winners, NETPAC award winners, Nostalgia.

Main venue

Fame Lido Complex, Ulsoor, which has four screens, will be the main venue for the festival. Films will be exhibited at single screens at Central Inox, JP Nagar, Rejoyz, Malleswaram, the Department of Information, Infantry Road, Badami House, NR Square and Suchitra, BSK II Stage. The 175 films chosen for screening will be chosen from 350 entries and the last date for submission of Kannada films is November 20, Artistic Director H N Narahari said.

The State Government has sanctioned Rs three crore for the purpose.

For details, visit www.biffes.in or contact Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, Badami House, N R Square, Bangalore.

The festival has invited entries from Kannada filmmakers for all categories in the Competition Section.

In the Kannada Cinema category, seven films will be selected by the selection committee for consideration of the jury. Under the World Cinema category, two Indian films (one Kannada and another non-Kannada) will be chosen. Similarly, one Kannada film will be considered for the Chitrabharati category, apart from films picked by the selection committee.

Committe’s decision

In the Asian category, Kannada films can be submitted in the competition, subject to the decision of the selection committee. The Kannada films for competition should be submitted along with censor certificate and English sub-titled screeners. Prints of the selected films should be submitted in 35-mm format with English sub-titles.