9th Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival will start from January 3
Aurangabad: The ninth Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival will be held at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar from January 3, organizers have announced. The five-day festival will begin at the Rukmini Auditorium on the MGM University campus.
Organizers told reporters on Saturday that the inauguration ceremony will be attended by filmmakers R Balki, Anubhav Sinha and Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Apoorva Chandra.
Festival director Ashok Rane said the festival will open with the German-Finnish film “Fallen Leaves”. The Palme d’Or-winning French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall” will close the latest edition of the festival on Jan. 7, Rane said.
On the inauguration day, veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar will be honored with the Padmapani Lifetime Achievement Award.
Apart from film screenings at Prozone Mall, the festival will also host events like short film competitions, Indian Film Competition, master classes with Sinha and Balki as well as interactive sessions.
The winning film team will be awarded the Golden Kailasha Award and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. The winners of the Best Actor, Actress and Screenplay categories will also receive awards at the festival.
Organizing committee chairman Nandkishore Kagliwal said veteran actor and director Dhritiman Chatterjee will head the Indian film competition jury, which also includes cinematographer Dimo Popov, director Nachiket Patwardhan, film critic Rashmi Doraiswami, cinematographer Hari Nair.
Kagliwal said that the winning films will also be given FIPRESCI India Awards.
During the function, senior PIB official Prakash Magdum will deliver a special lecture on ‘Gandhi and Cinema’ and Chatterjee will speak in a session titled ‘Understanding Mrinal Sen’ on the master filmmaker.
Chandrakant Kulkarni, artistic director of the festival, said an interactive session with directors participating in film competitions and a film appreciation workshop are also scheduled.
The festival, formerly known as the Aurangabad International Film Festival (AIFF), is organized by the Nath Group, Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Mumbai and MGM University.
