BIFFes 2024: Abbas Kiarostami, Mrinal Sen retrospective main attraction

Centenary year celebration of music director Vijay Bhaskar is also a highlight of the festival.

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru International Film Festival 2024 (BIFFes 2024) will hold retrospectives of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen in its 15th edition, says artistic director N Vidyashankar, in a conversation with DH.

Known for Koker Trilogy, Where Is the Friend's House, Taste of Cherry and Through the Olive Trees among others, Kiarostami is referred to as the pioneer of postmodern Iranian New Wave cinema.

With child protagonists and narratives set in a rural backdrop, the Iranian filmmaker is known to mix fiction and documentary styles in his craft.

Sen's films are satiric and critical of the nuances of socio-political and human relationships. He is known for Calcutta Trilogy, Ek Din Pratidin, Bhuvan Shome and Khandhar among others. Sen's films also typically feature the coming of age of the city of Kolkata. Along with stalwarts like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Tapan Sinha, Sen led the Indian New Wave of the 60s. It is also the centenary birth year of the acclaimed filmmaker.

Cinephiles from across the country who were treated to the cinema of Wong Kar-wai and V K Murthy in the previous edition, will now get to witness films of two of the greatest filmmakers in world cinema, on the big screen.

In his centenary birth year, the festival will also discuss the music of Vijay Bhaskar and screen films featuring his work. Belli Moda, Yaava Janmada Maitri, Sankalpa are some of the films featuring his finest works. He composed music for over 600 films for mainly Kannada films, but also Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu and Konkani language films as well.

BIFFes will pay tribute to veteran film personalities the industry lost in the previous year — Leelavathi, S K Bhagavan and C V Shivashankar.

The festival will be held from February 29 to March 7. Registrations will begin on February 15 as per an earlier press conference. Films will be screened at Orion Mall, Rajajinagar, Rajkumar Kala Bhavan, Chamarajpet and Suchitra Film Society, Banashankari.