PIFF 19 to take place this year between December 2nd and 9th 2021

By Jyothi Venkatesh

The much-awaited Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) organized by the Pune Film Foundation, which also happens to be the official film festival of the Government of Maharashtra will be held between December 2nd  and 9th. This was informed by Dr. Jabbar Patel, President of the Pune Film Foundation and the Director of the festival during a Press Conference held in the city today. This is the 19th edition of this popular film festival.

Samar Nakhate, Creative Director, Prakash Magdum, Director, NFAI, Meghraj Rajebhosale, President of Akhil Bhratiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal, Trustees of PIFF including Dr. Mohan Agashe and Satish Alekar and Abhijeet Ranadive, Creative Head and Film Selection Committee Member, PIFF.

The 19th edition of the festival was scheduled to take place in March 2021. However, it was postponed due to the outbreak of Corona virus in the state and was held in an online format with a select few films. Now that the State Government has given the permission to open cinema halls, the film fest is being organized in theatres.

During the festival the film buffs will get an opportunity to watch over 150 curated national and international films. The standard operating procedure given by the State Government with regards to the functioning of the cinema halls shall be followed strictly.

The film festival would be held at 3 venues, which will include PVR Icon at Pavillion Mall on Senapati Bapat Road, Inox at Camp and the NFAI auditorium on the Law College Road.

The online registration for the delegates who wish to be a part of PIFF will begin on November 18th. The spot registration will begin at all the three venues of the film festival from November 22nd. The per delegate registration fee for the entire film festival is Rs. 600.

The names of the Marathi Competition films are as follows-

1.      Poraga Majetay (Director- Makarand Mane)
2.      Firastya (Director- Vitthal Machindra Bhosale)
3.      FUN’ERAL (Director- Vivek Dubey)
4.      June (Directors- Vaibhav Khisti and Suhrud Godbole)
5.      Godakaath (Director- Gajendra Ahire)
6.      Kalokhachya Parambya (Director- Makarand Anaspure)
7.      Tak – Tak (Director- Vishal Kudale)

The names of the ‘Marathi Cinema Today’ (Non -Competition) are as follows-

1.      GOTT (Director- Shailendra Krishna Bagde)
2.      Taath Kana (Director- Girish Mohite)
3.      Kandil (Director- Mahesh Kand)
4.      Mayfly (Director- Kiran Nirmal)
5.      Jeevanacha Gondhal (Director- Prashant Dattatray Pandekar)

The names of the films in the ‘World Competition’ category are as follows-

1. Should the Wind Drop (Director – Nora Martirosyan, France, Armenia, Belgium)
2. In the Shadows  (Director – (Erdem Tepegoz, Turkey).
3. Uppercase Print (Director- Radu Jude, Romania).
4. A Common Crime (Director- Francisco Marquez, Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland, UK)
5. The Alien (Director- Nader Saeivar, Iran)
6. Kala Azar (Director- Janis Rafa, Netherlands, Greece)
7. True Mothers (Director- Naomi Kawase, Japan)
8. Night of the Kings (Director- Philippe Lacote, France, Canada, Senegal)
9.   Russian Death (Director- Vladimir Mirzoev, Russia)
10. Dear Comrades (Director- Andrei Konchalovsky, Russia)
11. Charlatan (Director- Agnieszka Holland, Czech, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia)
12. The Best Families (Director- Javier Fuentes- Leon, Colombia, Peru)
13. Isaac (Director- Jurgis Matulevicius, Lithuania)
14. 12×12 Untitled (Director- Gaurav Madan, India)