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Bigger Chennai film
festival
The 8th Chennai
International Film Festival, to be held between
December 15 and 23, will be bigger this year,
both in terms of the number of movies to be
screened and the film personalities expected to
attend the event. Announcing this to media
persons here on Thursday, B.Ramakrishnan,
president of Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF),
which is organising the event, said the festival
is being supported this year by the Film
Federation of India (FFI) and South Indian Film
Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC). The advisory
committee comprises Tamil Nadu Film Producers'
Council president Ramanarayanan, actors Revathi,
Mohan, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Rohini and Khusbhoo,
directors P.Vasu and Gautam Vasudev Menon, FFI
president L.Suresh, editor B.Lenin,
cinematographer B.Kannan, South Indian Film
Artistes' Association president Sarath Kumar,
SIFCC president C.Kalyan and secretary Ravi
Kottarakara, and producer Katragadda Prasad.
ICAF secretary E.Thangaraj said that the State
government has agreed to sponsor the festival
and give Rs.25 lakh for it. “For the first time,
the film personalities have come forward to
raise funds for the event and are also providing
creative support to make it a grand event. This
would help us grow,” he said.
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Nearly 20 Tamil
feature films would participate in the
competitive category. The festival would feature
world cinema, retrospectives of famous
directors, tributes to veteran film
personalities, premieres of various movies and
an exclusive Indian Panorama. The films
will be screened at four theatres – Woodlands,
Woodlands Symphony, Inox and South Indian Film
Chamber of Commerce theatre. A red carpet
reception' will be held every day during the
festival, which will have invited guests
watching special shows. The opening film
of the festival is ‘South Kitchen,' a German
film. Nearly 130 films from 40 countries will be
screened during the nine-day event. Ms.Revathi
said a special memento for the overall winner in
the competitive category has been designed by
Cholamandalam Artist Village secretary
S.Nandagopal. Calling the film fraternity to get
together to make the festival a global event,
Mr.Sarath Kumar said that it would provide a
platform for Indian and international cinema to
exchange ideas. ICAF vice-chairman S.Ve.Sheker,
and actors Parthiban, Radhika Sarath Kumar,
Ms.Suhasini, Lizzy Priyadarshan, Mr.Mohan and
Poornima Bhagyaraj were present at the event.
