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IFFI to open with Karunam

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Sixteen feature films have been selected for screening in the forthcoming International Film Festival of India to be held in New Delhi in January 2000. The films were selected by the eleven-member jury headed by U R Ananthamurthy. The list of the selected films was presented to the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley this afternoon by the members of the jury.

The Indian Panorama will open with the Malayalam film Karunam directed by Jayaraaj. Four Hindi films namely Kaarvan directed by ex-table tennis champion Pankaj Butalia, Kairee by Amol Palekar, Samar by Shyam Benegal and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam by Sanjay Leela Bhansali have also made the grade.

Leading Bengali filmmaker Arpana Sen's Paromitaar Ek Din along with two other Bengali films namely Asookh and Atmiya Swajan have been included in the list. In all 67 films were entered for selection. One film each has been selected from Telegu ( Malli), Oriya ( Biswasprakash), Assamese ( Pokhi), Punjabi ( Saheed Uddham Singh) for screening in the Indian Panorama. No Gujarati film was entered for selection.

There was a lot of disagreement over the entries in the non-feature film section. Jury members were sharply divided over Adoor Gopalakrishnan's film Kalamandalam Gopi in Malayalam. In fact at one stage most of the five-member jury headed by noted television personality Siddarth Kak had rejected the film. Some other jury members, however, sharply protested against this. The film was screened thrice before it was finally okayed and included in the list of 19 non-feature films.

Siddarath Kak, speaking to rediff.com, however, denied that there was any difference of opinion amongst the members of the jury over Adoor's film. "I don't know who gave you the impression that we had rejected the film made by Adoor Gopalakrishanan. He has made a nice film and it is very rich in content. How can someone think in those terms? Yes, there was a difference of opinion amongst the members of the jury. There was discussion on almost all the films that were entered. We had as many as 55 short films. In the end only 19 made the grade and many others were left out. You cannot have each and every film shown in the documentary section. The same goes for the Indian feature films. They have selected just sixteen out of sixty seven that were entered for selection," said an agitated Kak.

He strongly defended the inclusion of Niret Alva, Margaret Alva's -- senior Congress politician -- son, as a member of the jury. "He is a good documentary-maker who has made more then 140 documentaries in a short span of time. He knows his job. It is another matter that his mother happens to be in politics," Kak argued. "Education Only Her Future by Arun Gongade, Status Quo by Joshy Joseph and You Who Never Arrived by Putul Mahmood have also been selected," another member of the jury revealed.

Sanjay Kak's film In the Forest Hangs a Bridge (English) which was adjudged the best non-feature film at the 46th National Film Festival will also be shown in the documentary section of the festival. "Sanjay Kak is no relative of the chairman of the jury Siddarth Kak," explained an embarrassed jury member. The non-feature film section will open with a film entitled The Shamin of Perpang (English) by Mainak Trivedi.

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