The 16th edition of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) will be held from December 13 to 20 in the city. The festival will present nearly 150 films from across 59 countries under the following categories: World Cinema, Country Focus (Brazil), Contemporary German Cinema, Contemporary Brazilian Cinema, Contemporary Australian Cinema, Retrospective of Fatih Akin, Indian Panorama and Tamil Film Competition, Australian Comedy Films, Films from GRULAC and Special Screening. A host of delegates from the consulates of places such as Japan, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan will be present at the festival. Here is a handy guide to what’s playing at CIFF 2018:

Are you a fan of international cinema? Do you keep a tab on what’s happening around the world? Then, these are some of the must-watch foreign films that you shouldn’t miss at CIFF 2018. Almost all the films, directed by prominent names, have already been well-received in the festive circuit. Here are some of the films to look forward to:

A still from Cold War  

Yomeddine (Egypt) by AB Shawky

Shoplifters (Japan) by Hirokazu Koreeda

Dogman (Italy) by Matteo Garrone

Woman at War (Iceland) by Benedikt Erlingsson

Cold War (Poland) by Pawel Pawlikowski

At War (France) by Stéphane Brizé

Touch Me Not (Romania) by Adina Pintilie

Styx (Germany) by Wolfgang Fischer

In the Fade (Germany) by Fatih Akin

Winter Flies (Czech Republic) by Olmo Omerzu

Vada Chennai, Irumbu Thirai, 96, Pariyerum Perumal and Velaikkaran are among the 12 Tamil films that will be presented in the Competitive Section for Tamil Feature Films. The festival will also have a special screening of Merku Thodarchi Malai, directed by Lenin Bharati. In addition, there will be two interactive sessions on the topics Film Festivals, Film Professional and Film Buffs with filmmaker Pushkar-Gayatri, and Manoeuvring Film Festivals with filmmaker Vetri Maaran. The sessions, moderated by Shylaja Chetlur, will be held at Russian Cultural Centre on December 15 and 17 at 1.30 pm.

Close to 16 films will be screened under the category ‘First Time in CIFF’. These films include one from Zambia (South Africa), one from Kenya, one from Ladakh (under Indian Panorama section) and 13 films from GRULAC (Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries) including films from Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago.

The inauguration function of CIFF will take place at Kalaivanar Arangam, Walajah Road, at 6.15 pm today. The films will be screened at the following venues: Devi Cineplex, Anna Theatre, Sathyam Cinemas, Casino, Tagore Film Centre and Russian Centre of Science and Culture. For delegate registrations, people can either register directly at Devi Cineplex between 10.30 am and 6 pm everyday or can log on to www.icaf.in, www.chennaifilmfest.com or www.bookmyshow.com.