The International Jury Members (IFFI) shared their profound experiences and insights on watching the films nominated for the Golden Peacock Award at the 54th International Film Festival of India being held in Goa. Eminent filmmakers from across the globe, the jury members deliberated on the ‘International Competition’ and the awards to be announced and presented in this section at the closing ceremony of the festival tomorrow.
The Jury unanimously articulated that it has been a great personal experience for them to be a part of the international jury and to select from a diverse and compelling list of stories. They expressed that the International Film Festival of India has grown tremendously since its inception, given the diversity of the entries received and selections made.
Renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur who is also the Jury Chairperson said that the selection committee has done a remarkable curation of films; he also emphasized on India’s unparalleled content and technological prowess that enriches global cinema. “India has the world’s largest base of content and technology and festivals like IFFI help the rest of the world understand the culture of India”, Shri Shekhar added. Speaking about the growing use of Artificial Intelligence in film making in India, he said “there is no final authority in a creative work.” Emphasizing the pivotal role of film festivals in facilitating collaborations, Jerome Paillard said, “discovering diverse films and networking for collaborations is the biggest benefit of going to a film festival. Hailing initiatives like the Film Bazaar for catalyzing impactful partnerships, Jerome said, “marketing initiatives like film bazaar make a big difference about making collaborative projects.” He also praised the Creative Minds of Tomorrow (CMOT) initiative, saying it is a really wonderful initiative to nurture the young talent in film making.
Catharine Dussart, echoing the sentiments of Jerome, also lauded the plethora of films in competition and the Film Bazaar’s instrumental role in connecting distributors and producers. She said, “it is very helpful for distributors and producers who come to discover new projects for co-production,” adding that the festival had a great selection of films for the competition this year from different parts of the world.
