Over 240 films, 81 countries, grand inaugural parade: IFFI to open with a splash today

The inaugural parade will also feature creations from India’s iconic studios and celebrate the 50-year journey of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

The nine-day festival will conclude on November 28.

The 56th edition of IFFI will witness screening of over 240 films from over 81 countries. This year’s opening film is Brazilian auteur Gabriel Mascaro’s The Blue Trail, which was the winner of Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlinale 2025.

The international segment features titles that have already proven to be festival darlings. These movies include Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident; Father Mother Sister Brother, an anthology film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch; Dreams by Dag Johan Haugerud; Gloaming in Luomu by Zhang Lü; No Other Choice by Park Chan-wook; Sirat by Oliver Laxe; A Poet by Simón Mesa Soto; and My Fathers Shadow by Akinola Davies Jr.

Some of the stalwarts of Indian cinema, including Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla, Ritwik Ghatak, P Bhanumathi, Bhupen Hazarika and Salil Chowdhury, will be honoured in their centenary year. The annual festival will also honour Rajinikanth at the closing ceremony for completing 50 years in cinema and for his contributions.

This year’s Indian Panorama will present 25 feature films, 20 non-feature films and five debut features.

Rajkumar Periasamy-directed Amaran (Tamil) will open the feature film section while Kamlesh K Mishra-directed Kakori will kick off the section for non-feature films. Features like Braj-language Vimukt, Marathi-language Gondhal and Kannada-language Su From So will also be part of this section. Five feature films have been nominated in the Best Debut Director of Indian Feature Film Award category and as many web-series will compete for the Best Web-Series Award under the Panorama.

Over 20 masterclasses and panel discussions lined up during IFFI will have Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Anupam Kher, Christopher Charles Corbould OBE, Bobby Deol, Aamir Khan, Suhasini Maniratnam, Pete Draper, Sreekar Prasad and others talking about their journey and craft.

One of the highlights of IFFI is WAVES Film Bazaar, to be held from November 20 to 24 with a focus on the “co-production market” for features and documentaries. Its selection includes projects by Kiran Rao, Vikramaditya Motwane, Shakun Batra and Shaunak Sen.

First held in 1952, IFFI is considered South Asia’s oldest and largest celebration of cinema. The festival found its permanent home in Goa in 2004, where it is jointly organised by the NFDC, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the ESG.

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