Exclusive! KIFF: Raj Chakraborty: We want every cine lover to soak in the spirit of cinema during this festival

The 28th Kolkata International Film Festival is around the corner. More than 183 films from 42 countries are scheduled to be screened at 10 different venues across the city during the seven days of the festival that will start on December 15. The festival will begin with Amitabh Bachchan’s 1973 film Abhimaan as part of a tribute to Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Besides, the festival will also pay tribute to the legendary actor with films and an exhibition. There will be another exhibition that will focus on the illustrious career of French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard.

On Saturday, the film festival team held a press conference at Sisir Mancha to elaborate on the programme this year. The 28th edition of the festival will take place after the irregularity of the 26th and 27th years due to the pandemic. In fact, the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival took place earlier this year in April after being postponed from January due to the spread of Omicron. This year, the inauguration event may see Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Mahesh Bhatt, and several other dignitaries from all over the world. 

KIFF chair Raj Chakraborty is elated and hopeful regarding this edition of the festival. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, the filmmaker said, “Throughout the year, our entire team really work hard to make this a grand event. For two years, the festival was disrupted due to the pandemic. In fact, we were among some of the only festivals that hosted physical events during that time. However, this year, we intend to go back to our old format. We aim to curate acclaimed and contemporary films all over the world and present it to cine lovers. We have a group of very erudite team that does this curation over a long period of time. We want every cine lover to soak in the spirit of cinema during this festival.”

On the other hand, former chairman of the committee, Prosenjit Chatterjee said, “I have seen this festival growing. During my young days, I used to take time off to attend the festival. My best wishes to the team that makes the festival a grand affair.”