FTV batch students attended IFFI
28-November-2023
The 54th International Film Festival of India took place in Goa from 20th-28th November, 2023.
The FTV batch students attended the festival in the last four days, flaunting about our IFFI badges and
trendy outfits selected carefully with Goa in mind. The memory of waking up at 7:30 am to book
tickets for the next day whilst struggling to get internet in the moving train will always remain with
me. Despite the long delay in the overnight train, I was able to catch one film, ‘The Light’ directed
by the team of Godlywood Studio. ‘Celebrate the Joy of Cinema,’ the official theme of IFFI, aimed
to highlight the diversity and richness of culture through world cinema, which was undoubtedly
fulfilled considering the plethora of nationalities that attended the esteemed event.
The first visit to the IFFI center at Panjim was a spectacular visual in itself. The streets beaming
with lights, music, and endless stalls all added to the grandeur of my first film festival. The event
was well-organised with centers located nearby and entries which were hassle-free. Attending a
screening among an audience full of cinephiles and professional filmmakers truly generates a buzz
in the air. In four days, I watched eight films and attended one session on ‘Women and the Glass
Ceiling’ with Vidya Balan as the speaker.
All the eight films I chose to view were of different languages and genres, letting me experience
the whole spectrum of cinema. ‘The Punishment’ by Matías Bize and ‘Sometimes I think about
Dying’ by Rachel Lambert were by far the most engaging films I saw despite their relatively simple
storylines. The closing film, ‘The Featherweight’ by Robert Kolodny became a meeting point for
FTV as most of the class showed up for the screening. The cast and the crew were present, open to
questions from the enthusiastic audience. Unfortunately, workshops part of Film Bazaar were
scheduled only till 24th November, but that is definitely something I look forward to attending in
the upcoming years. On the whole, the environment was conducive to viewing films not merely as
an audience, but as a filmmaker, allowing us to notice much more and go in-depth with our
observations.
The strategically scheduled films allowed me time to travel around Goa visiting beaches and
churches, street shopping, and trying out traditional Goan cuisine such as fish thalis and seradura. I
returned from IFFI not only after watching a great collection of movies, but also with an abundance
of memories and souvenirs. I brought back with me not just the badge and official catalogue of
IFFI, but also a customary handful of shells and pebbles reminding me of the sea and the time spent
walking along the sandy beaches.
by Aakanksha Jairaj
Film, Television & Digital Video Production