BPFTI to host International film festival

Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute (BPFTI), in collaboration with Films division, India, will organize an International film festival here from February 8 to 10.

A package of 24 documentary, short and animation films by eminent filmmakers will be screened here from Friday. The Little Terrorist (2005) by Ashvin Kumar will be the first film to be screened at the festival.

BPFTI is hosting the film festival after a gap of 12 years.

“Since 1990, the Films division has been organizing Mumbai International Films festival (MIFF) in Mumbai. Many internationally acclaimed movies are showcased there every year. At least 24 eclectic movies screened in the non-competitive section of MIFF have been selected for the Cuttack film festival,” said S K Das, the principal of BPFTI.

Documentaries, short and animation films from Bangladesh, Romania, the UK, Australia and Bulgaria will also be screened. The duration of these films ranges from three to 80 minutes.

He further stated that the festival would be a treat for movie lovers in the city.

Some of the films to be screened at the three-day event are The Little Terrorist directed by Ashwin Kumar, which was nominated for the Oscars, The Black Road, On the Front Lines of Aches War, an Australian movie, directed by William Nessen. A film by noted Japanese director Nagisa Oshimo will also be shown during the festival.

“Being a student of cinematography, the film festival will help me observe what really goes behind documentary film-making,” said Braja Sundar Rout, a third-year student.

“This time, we have laid stress on animation films, which have not got adequate scope in our country,” said Films Division branch manager Sumaya Mukherjee.

Mukherjee said there were plans to screen rare documentaries, including one based on Rabindranath Tagore by Satyajit Ray.

“We are also planning to screen documentaries by students of BPFTI and other local artists at MIFF Odisha,” Mukherjee said.