21st edition of the Chennai International Film Festival will feature 126 films from 57 different nations

The Chennai city, on Thursday, welcomed the 21st edition of the Chennai International Film Festival, which will feature 126 films from 57 different nations.

With assistance from the State government, the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation and PVR Inox are organising the event. The opening day's film was Perfect Days by Wim Wenders, which took up the Best Actor prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The films are shown in Anna Cinemas and PVR Inox theatres till December 21.  

Oleg N. Avdeev, Consul General, Consulate General of Russia; Patricia Thery-Hart, Director of Alliance Française of Madras; Katharina Görgen, Director of Goethe-Institut, Chennai; Dennis S. Tsai, Deputy Director of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre, Chennai; J. Ranganathan, Honorary Consul of Myanmar in Chennai; Teraoka Mami, Cultural Head, Consulate-General of Japan in Chennai; and Wanyeol Jeon, Vice Consul, Consulate General of Korea in Chennai were among the many dignitaries in attendance.

According to E. Thangaraj, the festival director of CIFF and general secretary of the ICAF, a new competition category for international film has been added this year. Twelve films in all, including Dodger Karlcha's Tibetan Hearts, have been selected for the competition. "We are pleased with the response from film enthusiasts in the city. Over 3,500 people have registered both offline and online, he added.

He stated that nine prizes will be granted in different categories for the Tamil feature film competition, while three awards would be given for the international cinema. In addition to the films that aired at previous film festivals, 19 films from embassies and the Indian Panorama category would be exhibited.

On the occasion were Ravi Kottarakara, president of the South Film Chamber of Commerce, as well as members of the festival's jury. Visit https://chennaifilmfest.com to learn more about the masterclass and to register online.