Shyamhari Chakra
The 26th annual edition of the prestigious Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) has been rescheduled to January 8 to 15 next year.
It was slated for November 5 to 12. However, in view of the ongoing global pandemic, the Government of West Bengal decided to shift it to January.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement recently.
“After receiving global film fraternity’s consent, I hereby inform all stakeholders of Kolkata International Film Festival & cine-lovers that our festival has been rescheduled, given the current circumstances. It will be held from January 8-15, 2021. Let the preparations begin!”, the Chief Minister stated.
KIFF was launched in 1995 as the culmination of the film society movement that drew its inspiration from the masters of Bengali Cinema like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen.
“Since 2011, under the guidance and inspiration of the Chief Minister, the festival has reached a whole new level in terms of profile, publicity and reach. The budget has been increased to make it an attractive annual event. The festival has also been inclusive involving Bollywood and also by making it accessible to the public, the festival officials maintained.
Celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have earlier been a part of the grand event, they added.
KIFF has emerged as a flagship event of Government of West Bengal apart from being known as a major international event, they stated.
