International Film Festival of India (IFFI) returns to the golden shores of Goa bigger, brighter and inclusive for all. One of Asia’s oldest festivals, the golden jubilee was inaugurated on 20th November at Dr Shyama Prasad Stadium, Bambolim by Amitabh Bachchan in the presence of the superstar of Tamil cinema, Rajinikanth. Amitabh spoke of his friendship with Rajni and praised Rajni’s humility. There was a music program by Mahadevan who played a symphony along with ‘The Godfather Of Indian Jazz’ Louis Banks although the variety of entertainment seen during the last 14 IFFIs was absent. Apart from Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth, who also received the ICON of the Golden Jubilee award, ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ star Johnathan Reyes Meyers, and various senior dignitaries from the government of India were present. Bollywood director Karan Johar hosted the event.

Speaking at the curtain raiser press conference Dr. Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa said that all preparations have been done at the festival venues. While elaborating the details of this year’s edition, he said, “The delegate count is 9300 with a total confirmed 7000 delegates.” Festival Director, Directorate of Film Festival, Chaitanya Prasad briefing the media stated that the way the programming has been done is the result of a constant monitoring by Chief Minister of Goa Dr. Pramod Sawant and Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.

With reference to the ease of ticketing, CEO, Entertainment Society of Goa, Amit Satija elaborated on usage of a paperless ticketing system for the first timeOne of French cinema’s defining faces, actress Isabelle Huppert, was conferred the Lifetime Achievement award at the opening ceremony.
The lowlight of the day was a protest against the Mhadei diversion by Youth Congress workers led by Girish Chodankar who smuggled themselves into the top tier of the Shyam Prasad Mukherjee Stadium.