28th International Film Festival of India
The 28th International Film Festival of India was held from 10 to 20 January 1997 in Thiruvananthapuram. It was notably boycotted by members of the Hindi film industry after Karnataka's then Chief Minister J. H. Patel allegedly got Kannada actor Rajkumar, with who he had issues with, replaced as the chief guest through K. Karunakaran, a host of the festival. The Festival was inaugurated at the Kanakakkunnu Palace by Kerala Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar. American biopic "Michael Collins" was chosen as the opening film. Deceased Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni was paid a  tribute in the screening of his last film "Three Lives and Only One Death". Mike Leigh drama "Secrets & Lies" closed the festival. Official selections. Indian Panorama. The Directorate of Film Festivals invited criticism after its rejection of Hindi films "Daayraa" and "Maachis", and Bengali film, "Yugant" to be screened in the Indian Panorama section. Among others, the following films were subsequently screened: