# 29th Kolkata International Film Festival

The 29th Kolkata International Film Festival began on 5 December 2023 at Netaji Indoor Stadium, in Kolkata, India. A 1963 romantic comedy Bengali film Deya Neya by Sunil Bannerjee opened the festival, which screened 219 films from 39 countries. Spain and Australia were country of focus in this edition of the festival. The opening ceremony was attended by Special Chief Guest India Super Star Salman Khan West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Anil Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha, Mahesh Bhatt and cricketer Sourav Ganguly among others.
The festival closed on 12 December with the announcement of the awards in the closing ceremony, attended by filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, actor-dancer Mamata Shankar and actress Aditi Rao Hydari among others. Children of Nobody by Erez Tadmor, an Israeli film on the challenges faced by inmates of a shelter for at-risk youths was awarded 'Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award' for the best film whereas Carlos Malave of Venezuela, received the 'Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Director' for his film One Way.

## Highlights of the year

KIFF's title song
The title song of the festival, written by Srijato, composed by Indraadip Dasgupta and sung Arijit Singh is highlight of this year.
Paying tribute to legends
Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen, Indian actor Dev Anand, British feature-film, theatre and documentary director Lindsay Anderson, English actor, film director and producer Richard Attenborough, American actor Charlton Heston, Senegalese film director, producer and writer Ousmane Sembène, Indian playback singer Mukesh and Indian Hindi-Urdu Poet, lyricist and film producer Shailendra all having birth centenary this year will be given special tribute in the festival.
Exhibitions of Mrinal Sen and Dev Anand were unveiled at Nandan and Nazrul Tirtha on 7 December.
Bengali Panorama section
The section is a competitive section from this year and the winner's purse is ₹7.5 lakh.
Paying homage through special tribute
Italian actress, model, photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida; Spanish film director, photographer Carlos Saura; English film critic and historian Derek Malcolm; Indian cinematographer Soumendu Roy and Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, who all passed away in 2023 will be paid homage.
PR and social media
A new category called 'PR and social media' is introduced to reach out to people interested in films across the globe.

## Jury
### International jury

International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images
* Pavel Lungin, (Chairperson), Russian film director.
* Laurence Kardish, author of Reel Plastic Magic (1972), a textbook on American filmmaking, and has also been a playwright and filmmaker
* Tigmanshu Dhulia, Indian film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director.
* Ángela Molina, Spanish actress
* Manijeh Hekmat, Iranian film director
Competition on Indian language's films
* Rüdiger Suchsland, German film journalist, film critic and director
* Amal Ayouch, Moroccan actress
* Mariam Al Ferjani, Tunisian actress, scriptwriter, director, and artist
Asian Select (NETPAC Award)
* Patrick F. Campos, associate professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman and Film Institute and a member of NETPAC.
* Madhurima Sinha, Indian writer and filmmaker
* Ilgar Guliyev, Azerbaijan film director
Bengali Panorama
* P. Sheshadri, Indian film director
* Dnyanesh Zoting, Indian director and writer
* Padmapriya Janakiraman, Indian actress
Competition on Indian short films
* Amaresh Chakraborti, retired professor of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata
* Abhro Banerjee, film editor
* Paresh Kamdar, Indian director and editor
Competition on Indian documentary films
* R.V. Ramani, Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and teacher,
* Putul Mahmood, filmmaker, producer and teacher
* Malati Rao, Indian filmmaker

## Official selection

Sections
* Competition categories
* Non-Competition Categories
** Best of Contemporary Australian Cinema
* Centenary tribute
* Cinema International

### Inaugural film

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Inaugural Film |||||
| 1963 | Give and Take | Deya Neya | Sunil Bannerjee | India |

### Competition categories
#### International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images

Source:
    Highlighted title indicates award winner
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 2023 | 60 Days | 60 Days | Ismail Doruk | Turkey |
| 2022 | A Letter from Helga | Svar við bréfi Helgu | Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir | Iceland, Netherlands, Estonia |
| 2023 | Broken Borders | Soy lo que nunca fui | Rodrigo Alvarez Flores | Mexico |
| 2022 | Children of Nobody | Children of Nobody | Erez Tadmor | Israel |
| 2023 | Clara | | Sabin Dorohoi | Romania, Germany |
| 2022 | Filip | | Michał Kwieciński | Poland |
| 2023 | Four Seasons | | Maxim Shabalin | Russia |
| 2023 | Gondola | | Veit Helmer | Germany, Georgia |
| 2023 | Kaleidoscope Now | Chalchitra Ekhon | Anjan Dutt | India |
| 2023 | Land of Our Mothers | Tierra de nuestras madres | Liz Lobato | Spain |
| 2022 | One Way | One Way | Carlos Daniel Malave | Venezuela |
| 2023 | Scarlet Blue | | Aurelia Mengin | France |
| 2023 | We Will Not Fade Away | We Will Not Fade Away | Alisa Kovalenko | Ukraine, Poland, France |

#### Competition on Indian Language's Films

Source:
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| 2023 | Avni Ki Kismat | | Shonet Anthony Barretto |
| 2023 | Quiet Flows the Dead | Ozhuki Ozhuki Ozhuki | Sanjeev Sivan |
| 2023 | Blue Sunshine | Blue Sunshine | Samyuktha Vijayan |
| 2023 | Kherwal | Kherwal | Uttam Kamati |
| 2023 | Joseph’s Son | Joseph’s Son | Haobam Pabankumar |
| 2023 | The Ascension | Onkara | Unni KR |
| 2023 | Valli | | Manoj Shinde |
| 2023 | Wild Swans | Gorai Phakhri | Rajni Basumatary |
| 2023 | Kandeelu The Ray Of Hope | | K Yashoda Prakash |
| 2023 | Surrender | Samarpan | Arup Manna |
| 2023 | Autumn Afternoon | Hemantar Aparanha | Ashoke Viswanathan |
| 2023 | A Boy Who Dreamt of Electricity | A Boy Who Dreamt of Electricity | Jigar Madanlal Nagda |
| 2023 | SUZIE Q | SUZIE Q | Chandan Roy Sanyal |
| 2023 | Whispers of Fire and Water | Whispers of Fire and Water | Lubdhak Chatterjee |
| 2023 | The Nellie Story | The Nellie Story | Parthajit Baruah |
| 2023 | Saayavanam | Saayavanam | Anil Kumar |

#### Asian Select (NETPAC Award)

Source:
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 2023 | Gods Gift | Tenirberdi | Asel Zhuraeva | Kyrgyzstan |
| 2023 | Barren Waters | Nona Pani | Syeda Neegar Banu | Bangladesh |
| 2023 | Broken Dreams: Stories from the Myanmar Coup | ကျိုးပဲ့အိပ်မက်များ | The Ninefold Mosaic | Myanmar |
| 2023 | Walker | Walker | Joel Lamangan | Philippines |
| 2023 | Nanda School of Tradition | Nanda Master'nka Chatasali | Pranab Kumar Aich | India |
| 2023 | No Winter Holidays | | Rajan Kathet, Sunir Pandey | Nepal |
| 2023 | And, Towards Happy Alleys | | Sreemoyee Singh | India |

#### Competition on Indian Short Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| Alvida - The Last Goodbye | | Dilu Maliackal |
| Beep | | Mrinal Deka |
| Funeral Bier | Gahvara | Tariq Mohammad |
| Last Rehearsal | Last Rehearsal | Kamil Saif |
| Letterbox | | Suman Bhaduri, Suvadeep Sarkar |
| My Father Is Afraid Of Water | Papa Ko Pani Se Dar Lagta Hai | Prateek Rajendra Srivastava |
| Pardon | | Sahdev Gholap |

#### Competition on Indian Documentary Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| Tiger Army | | Sourabhkanti Dutta |
| Forged in Fire | | Bindu Nair,Sayyam Khanna |
| Someday | | Vishal P. Chaliha |
| Music of Rejuvenation | Nobo Jagoroner Gaan | Subha Das Mollick |
| LANGUR The Man Monkey | | Haider khan |
| Challenge | | Ramen Borah |
| Shrinking Of The Sturdy : Sabar Tales | | Abhijit Chakraborty |

#### Bengali Panorama

Source:
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| 2023 | Mind Flies | | Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti |
| 2023 | Autumn Flies | Bijoyar Pore | Abhijit Sri Das |
| 2023 | Widows of the wild | Bonbibi | Rajdeep Ghosh |
| 2023 | Asampurno | | Amartya Sinha |
| 2023 | Invisible Chord | Matripaksha | Rajesh Roy |
| 2023 | We shall come back | Abar Ashibo Firey | Debapratim Dasgupta |
| 2023 | Awnath | | Anisul |

### Non-Competition Categories
#### Best of Contemporary Australian Cinema

| Year | English title | Director(s) |
| 2023 | Shayda | Noora Niasari |
| 2021 | The Dry | Robert Connolly |
| 2021 | My Name Is Gulpilil | Molly Reynolds |
| 2023 | Limbo | Ivan Sen |
| 2023 | Sweet As | Jub Clerc |
| 2023 | The Survival of Kindness | Rolf de Heer |

#### Centenary tribute

    International
| Year | English title | Director | Production countrie(s) |
| Charlton Heston ||||
| 1958 | Touch of Evil | Orson Welles | United States |
| 1959 | Ben-Hur | William Wyler | United States |
| Charlton Heston ||||
| Year | English title | Original title | Production countrie(s) |
| Richard Attenborough ||||
| 1982 | Gandhi | Gandhi | United Kingdom, India |
| Lindsay Anderson ||||
| 1968 | If.... | If.... | United Kingdom |
| Ousmane Sembene ||||
| 1963 | Borom Sarret | Charretier | Senegal |
    Indian
| Year | English title | Original title | Language |
| Mrinal Sen ||||
| 1972 | Calcutta 71 | Calcutta 71 | Bengali |
| 1980 | Akaler Shandhaney | আকালের সন্ধানে | Bengali |
| 1983 | The Case is Closed | Kharij | Bengali |
| 1977 | The Marginal Ones | Oka Oori Katha | Telugu |
| 1969 | Bhuvan Shome | Bhuvan Shome | Hindi |
| 1971 | Interview | Interview | Bengali |
| Year | English title | Original title | Director |
| Dev Anand ||||
| 1951 | Sazaa | Sazaa | Fali Mistry |
| 1970 | Johny Mera Naam | Johny Mera Naam | Vijay Anand |
| 1967 | Jewel Thief | Jewel Thief | Vijay Anand |
| 1949 | Jeet | Jeet | Mohan Sinha |
| 1965 | Guide | Guide | Vijay Anand |
| 1956 | C.I.D. | C.I.D. | Raj Khosla |
| 1951 | Baazi | Baazi | Guru Dutt |
| Mukesh (singer) and Shailendra (lyricist) ||||
| 1966 | Teesri Kasam | Teesri Kasam | Basu Bhattacharya |

#### Cinema International

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Sweet Dreams | | Ena Sendijarević | Netherlands, Sweden |
| Anatomy of a Fall | Anatomie d'une chute | Justine Triet | France |
| How to Have Sex | How to Have Sex | Molly Manning Walker | United Kingdom |
| Concrete Utopia | 콘크리트 유토피아 | Um Tae-hwa | South Korea |
| The Zone of Interest | The Zone of Interest | Jonathan Glazer | United States, United Kingdom, Poland |
| Monster | 怪物 | Hirokazu Koreeda | Japan |
| About Dry Grasses | Kuru Otlar Üstüne | Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey, France, Germany |
| Cobweb | 거미집 | Kim Jee-woon | South Korea |
| Sleep | 잠 | Jason Yu | South Korea |
| Perfect Days | Perfect Days | Wim Wenders | Japan, Germany |
| Fallen Leaves (film) | Kuolleet lehdet | Aki Kaurismäki | Finland, Germany |
| Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert | Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert | Margarethe von Trotta | Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg |
| Lost in the Night | Perdidos en la noche | Amat Escalante | Mexico, Germany |
| Kidnapped | Rapito | Marco Bellocchio | Italy, France, Germany |
| Club Zero | Club Zero | Jessica Hausner | Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, United Kingdom |
| A Brighter Tomorrow | Il sol dell'avvenire | Nanni Moretti | Italy, France |
| Last Summer | L'Été dernier | Catherine Breillat | France |
| The Old Oak | The Old Oak | Ken Loach | United Kingdom, France, Belgium |
| Critical Zone | Mantagheye bohrani | Ali Ahmadzadeh | Iran, Germany |
| Behind the Mountains | Oura el jbel | Mohamed Ben Attia | Tunisia, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar |
| Explanation for Everything | Magyarázat mindenre | Gábor Reisz | Hungary, Slovakia |
| Essential Truths of the Lake | Essential Truths of the Lake | Lav Diaz | Philippines, France, Singapore, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
| Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World | Nu aștepta prea mult de la sfârșitul lumii | Radu Jude | Romania, Luxembourg, France,Croatia |
| The Promised Land | Bastarden | Nikolaj Arcel | Denmark, Germany, Sweden |
| The Beast | La Bête | Bertrand Bonello | France |
| The Monk and the Gun | The Monk and the Gun | Pawo Choyning Dorji | Bhutan, France, United States, Taiwan |
| Green Border | Zielona granica | Agnieszka Holland | Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium |
| Io capitano | Io capitano | Matteo Garrone | Italy, Belgium |
| Daaaaaalí! | Daaaaaalí! | Quentin Dupieux | France |
| The Palace | The Palace | Roman Polanski | Italy, Switzerland, Poland, France |
| For Night Will Come | En attendant la nuit | Celine Rouzet | France, Belgium |
| Red Island | L'Île rouge | Robin Campillo | France, Belgium |
| Homecoming | Homecoming | Catherine Corsini | France |
| Through the Night | Quitter la nuit | Delphine Girard | Belgium |
| MMXX | MMXX | Cristi Puiu | Romania |
| Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell | Bên trong vỏ kén vàng | Phạm Thiên Ân | Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain |
| Moro | | Brillante Mendoza | Philippines |
| Mira | Мира | Dmitry Kiselyov | Russian |

#### Films on Environment

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Antarctica Calling | Voyage au pôle Sud | Luc Jacquet | France |
| All That Breathes | | Shaunak Sen | India, United Kingdom, United States |

#### Focus Country: Spain

| English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| Matria | | Álvaro Gago |
| Strange Way of Life | Extraña forma de vida | Pedro Almodóvar |
| 20,000 Species of Bees | 20.000 especies de abejas | Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren |

#### Focus on Australian Horror

As spotlight is on Australia, being Special Feature Country, a selection of Australian outback horror films were presented. The festival also launched the 'Kolkata Tram of Horror', to embark on a spine-chilling tram ride through the world of Australian horror films.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| 100 Bloody Acres | 100 Bloody Acres | Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes |
| Picnic at Hanging Rock | Picnic at Hanging Rock | Peter Weir |
| Wolf Creek | Wolf Creek | Greg McLean |

#### Game On

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| 2022 | Shabaash Mithu | Shabaash Mithu | Srijit Mukherji |
| 2023 | Ghoomer | Ghoomer | R. Balki |
| 2022 | Jersey | Jersey | Gowtam Tinnanuri |

#### Homage

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Gina Lollobrigida ||||
| A Dog's Life | Vita da cani | Mario Monicelli, Steno | Italy |
| Stornellata Romana | | Pietro Francisci | Italy |
| O Sole Mio | | Pietro Francisci | Italy |
| Na sera e maggio | | Pietro Francisci | Italy |
| Soumendu Roy (cinematographer) ||||
| Distant Thunder | অশনি সংকেত | Satyajit Ray | India |
| Year | English title | Original title | Production countrie(s) |
| Carlos Saura ||||
| 1990 | ¡Ay Carmela! | | Spain |
| | J Beyond Flamenco | | Spain |
| Dariush Mehrjui ||||
| 2020 | A Minor | La minor | Iran |

#### Kurdish Cinema: In Search of Identity

Seven films by the directors of the Kurdish origin will be presented at the festival in a package.
| Year | English title | Original title | Director | Production countrie(s) |
| 2016 | The Swallow | Die Schwalbe | Mano Khalil | Switzerland |
| 2017 | Zagros | | Sahim Omar Kalifa | Belgium |

#### Pavel Lungin

Pavel Lungin is a Russian film director.
| Year | English title | Original title | Production countrie(s) |
| 2009 | Tsar! | Царь | Russia |
| 1990 | Taxi Blues | Такси-блюз | Soviet Union |
| 2006 | The Island | Остров | Russia |
| 2012 | The Conductor | Дирижёр | Russia |
| 2016 | The Queen of Spades | Дама пик | Russia |
| 2019 | Leaving Afghanistan | Братство | Russia |
| 2005 | Poor Relatives | Бедные родственники | Russia |

#### Restored classics

| Year | English title | Original title | Director | Production countrie(s) |
| 1973 | Enter The Dragon | Enter The Dragon | Robert Clouse | Hong Kong, United States |
| 1973 | The Exorcist | The Exorcist | William Friedkin | United States |

#### Retrospective: Bruce Beresford

The festival presented a retrospective of six films by the Australian director Bruce Beresford including the 1989 oscar-winning film Driving Miss Daisy.
| Year | English title | Original title | Production countrie(s) |
| 1980 | Breaker Morant | Breaker Morant | Australia |
| 1989 | Driving Miss Daisy | Driving Miss Daisy | United States |
| 1991 | Black Robe | Black Robe | Canada, Australia |
| 1990 | Mister Johnson | Mister Johnson | United States |
| 1999 | Double Jeopardy | Double Jeopardy | United States |
| 2016 | Mr. Church | Mr. Church | United States |

#### Short & Documentary Panorama

| English title | Original title | Director | Production countrie(s) |
| The Saga Of A Couplet | Jugoleshu | Palash Das | India |

#### Special screening

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 2023 | Junks & Dolls | ASHGHAL HA VA AROUSAK HA | Manijeh Hekmat | India |

#### Unheard India: Rare Language Films

| English title | Original title | Language | Director(s) |
| Bird Thief | Peta Dochcho | | Sounak Kar |

## Winners

Source:
* Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Film:
** Children Of Nobody by Erez Tadmor
* Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Director: Carlos Daniel Malave for One Way
* Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Short: Last Rehearsal by Kamil Saif
* Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Documentary: Challenge by Ramen Borah, Sibanu Borah
* Special Jury mention (Innovation in Moving Pictures): Kaleidoscope Now by Anjan Dutt
* Hiralal Sen Memorial Award Best Film (Indian language's films) : Wild Swans by Rajni Basumatary
* Hiralal Sen Memorial Award Best Director (Indian language's films) : Shonet Anthony Barretto for Avni Ki Kismat
* Bengali Panorama Best Film : Mind Flies by Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti
* Special Jury mention (Indian language's films):
** Josephs Son by Haobam Paban Kumar
* NETPAC Award for Best Film : Broken Dreams: Stories from the Myanmar Coup by the Ninefold Mosaic