Kolkata, Nov. 1 -- Bengal has seen the saffron flag fly high for the first time with the BJP coming to power, and the new logo of the 32nd Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) carries a dash of saffron. Designed by filmmaker Sandip Ray, the new logo was unveiled at Nandan on Sunday afternoon in the presence of veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, chief advisor to KIFF; Prosenjit Chatterjee, chairman of KIFF; actor Jeet; I&CA department secretary Saumitra Mohan; BJP MLAs and actors Rudranil Ghosh, Hiran Chatterjee and Papiya Adhikari. As reported earlier, the festival, which begins on December 16, will be inaugurated at Victoria Memorial, another first for KIFF.
On Sunday, Mithun, who is also an advisor to the Bengal government with the rank of Cabinet Minister for Information and Culture, unveiled the elaborate guest list for the inaugural ceremony. The Padma Bhushan awardee had earlier announced that South Indian superstars Rajinikanth and Prabhas, along with Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal and Kangana Ranaut, would attend the event. On Sunday, he added Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Johnny Lever, along with directors Anurag Basu and Madhur Bhandarkar, to the list. He also said that efforts were being made to bring Hollywood stars to the inauguration.
Apart from the new logo, the KIFF committee is also working on a new theme song, composed by Ratul Bandopadhyay, and a theme film. Jeet also announced that Ireland will be the focus country at this year's edition. Rudranil had good news for cinelovers. This year, delegates will be able to apply for their delegate cards online through the official KIFF website.
The online application process will begin on November 5. Offline applications will also remain available, as in previous years.
Prosenjit said special emphasis was being placed on film selection, with the best of international cinema set to be screened at the festival. Another major highlight of the 32nd KIFF will be the Film Bazaar, which aims to promote films from across the world.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.