Pune, Feb 14 (UNI): The 20th Pune International Film Festival, organised jointly by the Pune Film Foundation and the Government of Maharashtra from March 3 to 10, will have a theme based on the birth centenary celebrations of three great personalities — Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, the doyen of Indian Classical Music, Bharat Ratna Satyajit Ray, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and Padma Shri Sahir Ludhianvi, an acclaimed poet and lyricist, announced organisers on Monday.
Addressing a press conference here, Dr Jabbar Patel said, “PIFF 2022 shall be organised in the hybrid format just like the last year. About 26 films can be seen through the online format of the festival, whereas film enthusiasts who wish to be a part of the festival happening in theatres will get an opportunity to watch 120 films from various countries.”
“Some special programmes would be organised during the festival based on the theme featuring these stalwarts from the fields like Indian Classical Music, Films and Poetry. Details of these programmes shall be announced soon,” he said.
Dr Patel said the 20th PIFF will be dedicated to late Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar. The online registration for participating in PIFF 2022 will begin from Tuesday, while the spot registration will commence from February 17 at the venues where the festival will take place this year between 1100 hours and 1930 hrs, he informed.
The venues where PIFF 2022 will take place include PVR and the Pavilion Mall on Senapati Bapat Road, Cinepolis at the Westend Mall, Aundh and the NFAI auditorium on Law College Road, he said.
Fourteen films which have been shortlisted for the World Competition section at PIFF 2022 include Erasing Frank (Hungary), 107 Mothers (Slovakia, Czech Republic and Ukraine), Maixbel (Spain), The Exam (Germany, Iraq-Kurdistan and Qatar), Playground (Belgium), France (France), The Legionnaire (Italy and France), As Far as I Can Walk (Serbia, France, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Lithuania), Mirrors in the Dark (Czech Republic), Submission (Portugal and France), Jai Bhim (India), AMIRA (Egypt, Jordan, UAE and Saudi Arabia), Between Two Dawns (Turkey, Romania, France and Spain) and House Arrest (Russia), the organiser added.
