The 18th edition of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF), organised by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF) in association with PVR, was inaugurated on Thursday.
The French film The Girl with the Bracelet was screened as the opening film.
“The support we have received from the State government, film lovers and various embassies in the city have made this festival possible,” said D. Ramakrishnan, vice-chairman of the festival.
Katharina Görgen, director, Goethe-Institut, Chennai; Young-seup Kwon, Consul-General, Republic of Korea; Karin Christina Maria Stoll, Consul-General, Federal Republic of Germany; Lise Talbot Barré, Consul-General of France in Puducherry and Chennai; and Bruno Plasse, director, Alliance Francaise, were among the guests who participated in the inaugural.
“Given the line-up of films from across the world, this festival is truly global and shows that there are no boundaries if you cooperate. As much as we cherish our respective cultures and identities, we must be open for exchange,” Ms. Maria Stoll said, speaking about cultural cooperation and the film festival.
“French people and Indians love the cinema and going to the cinemas. It is a pleasure to see so many people attending the festival,” said Ms. Lise Talbot Barré.
In its 18th edition, the film festival will screen 91 films from 53 countries over the next seven days.
While films will be screened under the World Cinema, Indian panorama, Retrospective and Country Focus categories, 13 Tamil films will be screened as part of the Tamil film competition at the festival. Members of the Tamil film industry will conduct 12 master classes on various aspects of film-making through the duration of the festival.
For more details regarding the schedule of the films, interested persons can visit at https: //chennaifilmfest.com