IFFI from October 9

The 34^th International Film Festival of India will be held in New Delhi from October 9-19, 2003.

The Deccan Herald

(28 May 2003)

The Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has invited entries for both 50^th National Film Awards and for Indian Panorama Section of the IFFI 2003.

1. Feature and Non-feature film awards

Films (35 mm and 16 mm ) that have been produced in India and certified by the Censor Board between 1^st January 2002 and 31^st December 2002 are eligible.

2. National award for the Best Writing on Cinema

1. Any Book on cinema published in India by an Indian in any language between 1^st January 2002 and 31^st December 2002 are eligible for entry.
2. Articles / reviews on cinema published in Indian Newspapers / Magazines/ journals by an Indian between 1^st January 2002 and 31^st December 2002 are eligible for entry.

Feature and Non-feature films

Films (35 mm and 16 mm) that have been produced in India and certified by the Censor Board between 1^st January 2002 and 31^st December 2002 are eligible for entry.

Features entered either in Indian Panorama - 2003 or 50^th National Film Awards may also be considered for Asian competition for feature films in the 34^th International Film Festival of India 2003. The eligibility period remains the same for Indian Panorama, however, producers have to indicate their willingness to enter the films for the Asian Competition.

(19 May 2003)

(19 May 2003)

(23 May 2003)

Indian participation at Cannes

The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad led the Indian delegation to the Cannes Film Festival held from May 14 to 24, 2003 to promote the country's film industry and explore new markets.

An India Pavilion was set up at the festival in which around 10 Indian entertainment companies had put up their stalls to promote their films abroad. An 'India Evening' was also hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries which focussed on 'Women in Indian Cinema' in the past 40 years. The presentation traced the role of Indian women in films like Bimal Roy's, Bandini, Devdas and Sujata, Mehboob Khan's Mother India, Shakti Samanta's Aradhana, Ketan Mehta's Mirch Masala, Mahesh Bhatt's Arth, Prakash Mehra's Deewar and Raj Kumar Santoshi's Damini and Lajja.

An NFDC co-production Arimpa Ara (A Story that begins at the end) directed by Murali Nair was screened in the 'Un Certain Regard' section. Another Indian attraction at the festival was the screening of British Indian filmmaker Mahesh Patel's Triads Yardies and Onion Bhajis.

Last but not the least was the inclusion of actress Aishwarya Rai on the Festival jury.

The Times of India The Hindustan Times

(13 May 2003) (4 May 2003)

The Tribune The Deccan Chronicle

(14 May 2003) (5 May 2003)

The Hindu The Deccan Herald (17 May 2003) (5 May 2003); (14 May 2003)

Celebrated Malayalam film maker Adoor Goplakrishnan has been honoured with the 'Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters', the second highest award given to a civilian by the French government.

(22 May 2003)

(22 May 2003)

Acclaimed NRI filmmaker Gurinder Chadha has won one of the top honours at the "Asian Women of Achievement Awards" in London.

(12 May 2003)

(12 May 2003)

India's first full length digital feature film Nil Nirjane directed by Subrata Sen has bagged the 'best experimental film' award at the International Film Festival in Australia held in May 2003.

(6 May 2003)

Mathia, a Kokborok film from Tripura has won the award for the best feature film in the 18^th International Film Festival of Niepokalanow held at Warsaw, Poland for its "realistic depiction of the culture and heritage of a community in India". The film is directed by Joseph Pulinthanath. It is the first time that a film made in Kokborok has won an international award in a festival abroad.

(31 May 2003)

The 40^th Maharashtra State Film Awards were presented on May 1, 2003 by the Chief Minister, Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde. The best feature film award was won by 10^th F. The rest of the awards are as follows: -

1. Best Actor - Shreyas Talpade for Reshamgaath
2. Best Actress - Reema Lagoo for Reshamgaath
3. Best Story - Sumitra Bhave for 10^th F
4. Best Screenplay - Sumitra Bhave for Vastupurush
5. Best Dialogue - Prashant Dalvi for Bhet
6. Best Lyrics - Sumitra Bhave for 'Khushi Cheheryavarmazhya'

10^th F

7. Best Music Director - Shriram Umrani for 10^th F
8. Best Male Playback Singer - Ajit Parab for Krishnakathchi Meera
9. Best Female Playback Singer - Yogita Godbole for Krishnakathchi Meera
10. Best Choreography - Umesh Jadhav for Aadharstambh
11. Best Child Artiste - Apoorva Koregoave for Bhet

Chitrapati V. Shantaram award was conferred on veteran actress Jayshree Gadkar while Rajesh Kahanna bagged the Raj Kapoor award.

(9 May 2003;13)

Singaravva, a Kannada film directed by T.S Nagabharana has been selected for the Carlovalia International Film Festival to be held in Czechoslovakia. The film is based on the novel of Dr. Chandra Sekhara Kambara and deals with the trials and tribulations of a woman.

(9 May 2003;13)

Tigmannshu Dhulia's maiden film Haasil has been invited to the Toronto Film Festival scheduled for July 2003. The film is based on the students politics in India.

(25 May 2003)

A Festival of Hindi films is being held on Turner Classic Movies Channel in the USA. Being co-hosted by noted filmmaker Ismail Merchant, the festival would screen 12 selected films ranging from the 1930s to the present times. The films to be telecast every Thursday night over four weeks starting June 5 will include classics like Do Bigha Zamin, Mother India, Pyaasa and the more modern ones like Rangeela, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Dil Chahta Hai.

(3 May 2003)

NRI filmmaker Gurinder Chadha's rarely seen short films were screened in this year's day-long Asian American Documentary Showcase, presented by the National Asian American Telecommunications Association in San Francisco on May 18, 2003. The films screened included What Do You Call an Indian Woman Who is Funny ?; I'm British But and Acting Our Age. All these films deal with Indian Diaspora issues.

(19 May 2003)

The Second International Video Film Festival was held in Thiruvananthapuram from May 20-25, 2003. The festival was organised by the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-Dit) and the government of Kerala. Over 225 video films from India and abroad were screened in various categories including (i) Non-fiction Competition category (ii) Non-fiction Information category (iii) Fiction Competition Category (iv) Fiction Information Category and (v) Spot Competition Category. The festival had a focus on 'Green' in which the best of videos on natures and environment were screened. There was also a Fresh Water Package (Changing Currents) in which a series of 11 half-hour international documentaries on fresh water issues were screened. In addition, there was a package of Canadian films, a package of French films and a package of German films. Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) made its presence in the festival with 10 socially responsive documentaries. Discussion sessions, Open forum seminars and informal gatherings were also organised for the benefit of filmmakers and others associated with the video films. Rs. 4,30,000/- was distributed as prize money in six categories including that for the best documentary, best video film by a women director and the best fiction video film. Prize money was shared by the producer and directors in each category.

(13 May 2003)

Film and Television Institute of India will host a four day film festival in Pune in the month of August. Selected works of some of it's alumni will be showcased during the festival. Most of these would be award winning films. The festival is being organised by the Institute's alumni body 'Grafttii'. Saeed Mirza is the director of the festival called 'Wisdom Tree'. Works of Vinay Shukla, Shabana Azmi, Adoor Gapalakrishnan, Girish Kasarvalli, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Jaya Bachchan, Raman Kumar, Renu Saluja, Pankaj Parashar, Mahesh Aney, Binod Pradhan and Manmohan Singh are likely to be screened in the festival.

(25 May 2003)

Tax exemption for Haasil

Karma Network's Haasil has been exempted from the liability of entertainment tax in Uttar Pradesh. Directed by Tigmannshu Dhulia, the film has Jimmy Shergill, Hrishita Bhatt and Irfaan Khan in important roles.

(7 May 2003)

Sumitra Mukherjee is no more

Renowned Bengali film actress Sumitra Mukherjee who acted in more than 500 films including the Bengali version of Devdas passed away in Kolkata on May 21, 2003.

(22 May 2003)

Leading Tamil film producer G. Venkateswaran passed away in Chennai on 3 May 2003. He was 55.

Venkateswaran, elder brother of noted film maker Mani Rathnam, had produced quite a few successful film including Anjali, Nayakan, Thalapathi and Agninatchatram, Chokka Thangam was his last film.

The Deccan Chronicle

(4 May 2003)

(4 May 2003)

(4 May 2003)

(4 May 2003)