The 52nd International Film Festival of India opened on 20 November 2021 with The King of All the World (El Rey de Todo El Mundo) by Carlos Saura in Goa. Like the 51st edition, this edition was held in a hybrid format which combined online and face-to-face participation. The BRICS Film Festival was held alongside main festival, in which films from BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China and India were showcased. These five countries were 'the 'countries of focus' in the 52nd edition of the festival.
In the 2021 festival, on the occasion of the birth centenary of Satyajit Ray, the Directorate of Film Festivals paid tribute to him through a 'Special Retrospective' in which his 11 specially curated films were screened. The Lifetime Achievement award, in recognition of the auteur's legacy, was named the ‘Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award’ from this year. In this edition, for the first time, streaming video platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Voot and Sony Liv participated in a series of physical and virtual events.
The opening ceremony on 20 November 2021, hosted by Karan Johar and Manish Paul, was aired live. It was also streamed live on YouTube. The festival closed on 28 November with Asghar Farhadi's film A Hero, and the closing ceremony was streamed live on YouTube.
Events Being a 'hybrid' film festival, a few events were organised online also.
Master classes Netflix organised a three-day virtual masterclass by the school of image and arts, Gobelins, l'École de l'image, based in Paris. Screenwriters Sumit Purohit and Saurav Dey held master classes organised by SonyLiv. Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari curated Breakpoint, a series on tennis stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, organised by ZEE5. 75 creative minds in the age group of 35 years and below were invited to interact with industry stalwarts and attend masterclasses.
Tribute The festival paid tribute to:
Dilip Kumar, Indian actor and film producer Sumitra Bhave, Indian filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Indian poet and filmmaker Sanchari Vijay, Indian actor Surekha Sikri, Indian theatre, film and television actress Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor Bertrand Tavernier, French director, screenwriter, actor and producer Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor Jean-Claude Carrière, French novelist, screenwriter and actor Sean Connery, Scottish actor Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and dancer
Retrospective films section The retrospective section featured Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr, Russian filmmaker and stage director Andrei Konchalovsky, and Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner Rajinikanth.
Creative minds of the future 75 creative minds selected in the first round by a selection jury and in the final round by a grand jury attended the 52nd International Film Festival. These '75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow' in the age group of 35 years and below interacted with industry stalwarts and attended the masterclasses.
Grand jury Prasoon Joshi, lyricist and chairman, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Ketan Mehta, director Shankar Mahadevan, composer and singer Manoj Bajpayee, actor Resul Pookutty, Oscar winning sound recordist Vipul Amrutlal Shah, filmmaker
Selection jury Vani Tripathi, producer and actor, member of CBFC Anant Vijay, writer Yatindra Mishra, author and writer Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan, filmmaker Sachin Khedekar, actor, director
Jury
International jury Rakhshān Banietemad (Iran), filmmaker, chairperson Stephen Woolley (UK), film producer and director Ciro Guerra (Columbia), film director and screenwriter Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka), filmmaker, critic and visual artist Nila Madhab Panda (India), producer and director
Feature film jury SV Rajendra Singh Babu (India), filmmaker and actor, works in Kannada cinema, chairperson Rajendra Hegde, audiographer Makhonmani Mongsaba, filmmaker Vinod Anupama, film critic Jayashree Bhattcharya, filmmaker Gyan Sahay, cinematographer Prasantanu Mohapatra, cinematographer Hemendra Bhatia, actor, writer and filmmaker Asim Bose, cinematographer Pramod Pawar, actor and filmmaker Manjunath T S, cinematographer Malay Ray, filmmaker Parag Chhapekar, filmmaker, journalist
Non-feature film jury S. Nallamuthu (India), leading wildlife and documentary filmmaker, chairperson Akashaditya Lama, filmmaker Sibanu Borah, documentary filmmaker Suresh Sharma, film producer Subrat Jyoti Neog, film critic Manisha Kulshreshtha, writer Atul Gangwar, writer
Preview committee
Suresh Bhardwaj, ex professor and dean, NSD Malti Sahay, ex director, IFFI Manjula Shirodkar, journalist and film critic Satinder Mohan, ADG (Rtd) MOD, film critic Rajesh S. Jala, filmmaker Joydeep Ghosh, filmmaker and journalist Shyam Malick, filmmaker and journalist Vishnu Sharma, author, film critic, and journalist
Official selection
Sections Kaleidoscope section Golden Peacock Award Films for debut competition ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal Indian Panorama Feature films Non-feature films World Panorama Soul of Asia Country of focus Masters of cinema Jury package Special Tribute/Homage Retrospective film Sports package Special screening India @75
Opening and closing films
Year English title Original title Director(s) Production country(s)Opening films 2021The King of All the World El rey de todo el mundoCarlos Saura Spain, MexicoIndian Panorama feature film 2021Semkhor Aimee Baruah IndiaIndian Panorama non-feature film 2021Ved...The Visionary Rajiv Parkash IndiaMid fest film 2021The Power of the Dog Jane Campion Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United StatesClosing film 2021A Hero قهرمان (Ghahreman)Asghar Farhadi Iran, France
Kaleidoscope section 11 films are shortlisted for screening under Kaleidoscope section.
Year English title Original title Director(s) Production country(s) 2021Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc Radu Jude Romanian 2021Brighton 4th Levan Koguashvili Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, Monaco, USA 2021Compartment No. 6 Hytti nro 6 Juho Kuosmanen Finland, Germany, Estonia, Russia 2021Feathers Omar El Zohairy France, Egypt, The Netherlands, Greece 2021I'm Your Man Ich bin dein Mensch Maria Schrader Germany 2021Red Rocket Sean Baker United States of America 2020Souad Ayten Amin Egypt, Tunisia, Germany 2021Spencer Pablo Larraín Germany, UK, Chile 2021The Story of My Wife A feleségem története Ildikó Enyedi Hungary, Germany, Italy, France 2021The Worst Person in the World Verdens verste menneske Joachim Trier Norway, France, Sweden, Denmark 2021Titanium Titane Julia Ducournau France, Belgium
Golden Peacock Award
Highlighted title indicates award winner Year English title Original title Director(s) Production country(s) 2020Any Day Now EnsilumiHamy Ramezan Finland2021Charlotte Simon Franco Paraguay2021Godavari Nikhil Mahajan India2021Întregalde Radu MunteanRomania2021Land of Dreams Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari New Mexico, USA2021 Leader Lider Katia Priwieziencew Poland2020Mee Vasantrao Nipun Avinash Dharmadhikari India2021Moscow Does Not Happen Moskvy Ne Byvayet Dmitry Fedorov Russia2021No Ground Beneath the Feet Mohammad Rabby Mridha Bangladesh2021 Once We Were Good For You A bili smo vam dobri Branko Schmidt Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina2021 Ring Wandering リング・ワンダリング Masakazu Kaneko Japan2021Saving One Who Was Dead Zpráva o záchraně mrtvého Václav Kadrnka Czech Republic2021Semkhor Aimee Baruah India2021The Dorm Общага Roman Vasyanov Russia2021The First Fallen Los Primeiros Soldados Rodrigo de Oliveira Brazil
Films for debut competition
Highlighted title indicates award winner Year English title Original title Director(s) Production country(s) 2020Dollu Sagar Puranik India 2020FuneralVivek Rajendra DubeyIndia 2021MagoadoRubén SainzSpain 2021MamanArash AneesseeIran 2021Pack of SheepDimitris KanellopoulosGreece 2021RainJanno JürgensEstonia 2021Sweet DisasterLaura LehmusGermany 2021The Wealth of the WorldLa riqueza del mundoSimon FarriolChile, Italy 2021ZahoríMarí AlessandriniSwitzerland, Argentina, Chile, France
IFFI ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal
Highlighted title indicates award winner Year English title Original title Director(s) Production country(s)202121st Tiffin 21મું ટિફિનVijaygiri BavaIndia 2021Commitment Hasan Bağlılık HasanSemih Kaplanoğlu Turkey 2021Killing the Eunuch Khan Abed Abest Iran 2021 Lingui, The Sacred Bonds Lingui, les liens sacrés Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Chad, France, Belgium, Germany 2021 Night Forest Nachtwald André Hörmann, Katrin Milhahn Germany 2021 Niraye Thathakalulla Maram നിറയെ തത്തകളുള്ള മരം Jayaraj India 2020 Pebbles Koozhangal Vinothraj P S India 2021 Olivier Peyon France 2020 When Pomegranates Howl Granaz Moussavi Australia, Afghanistan
Indian Panorama In Indian Panorama, feature and non-feature films of cinematic, thematic, and aesthetic excellence are selected for the promotion of film art through the non-profit screening of these films under different categories.
Feature films India's entry for the 2022 Academy Awards, Tamil film Koozhangal, was screened in the Indian Panorama feature film segment. 24 feature films reflecting the vibrancy and diversity of the Indian film industry were selected out of 221 contemporary films for screening.
Title of the film Language Director(s) Producer(s)21st Tiffin (Ekvismu Tiffin)GujaratiVijaygiri BavaAbhijaan BengaliParambrata ChatterjeeRatan Shree Nirman, Roadshow Films Pvt LtdAct 1978KannadaManjunatha S. (Mansore)Alpha Beta Gamma HindiShankar SrikumarJithin Raj, Menka Sharma, Mona Shankar, Thomas PunnooseBhagavadajjukamSanskritYadu VijayakrishnanBittersweet MarathiAnant MahadevanBoomba RideMishingBiswajeet BoraDolluKannadaSagar PuranikEight Down Toofaan MailHindiAkriti SinghStoria Senza StoriaFuneralMarathiVivek Rajendra DubeyGodavariMarathiNikhil MahajanJitendra Joshi, Mitali Joshi, Pavan Malu, Nikhil MahajanKalkokkho (House of Time)BengaliRajdeep Paul & Sarmistha MaitiManikbabur Megh (The Cloud & the Man) BengaliAbhinandan BanerjeeBauddhayan Mukherji, Monalisa MukherjiMee VasantraoMarathiNipun Avinash DharmadhikariNatyamTeluguRevanth KorukondaSandhya RajuNeeli HakkiKannadaGanesh HegdeGanesh, Suman Shetty, Vinay ShettyNiraye Thathakalulla MaramMalayalamJayarajNitantoi Sahaj SaralBengaliSatrabit PaulKoozhangalTamilVinothraj P SNayanthara, Vignesh ShivanPrawaasMarathiShashank UdapurkarOm ChhanganiSemkhorDimasaAimee Baruah Sijou Bodo Vishal P. ChalihaSunnyMalayalamRanjith SankarJayasurya, Ranjith SankarTaledandaKannadaPraveen KrupakarKripanidhi Kreations
Non-feature films Title of the film Language Director(s)Bablu Babylon Se HindiAbhijeet SarthiBackstageOriyaLipka Singh DaraiBadal Sircar & the Alternative TheatreEnglishAshok ViswanathanBharat Prakriti Ka Balak HindiDr. Deepika Kothari & Ramji OmGanga-PutraHindiJai PrakashGajraHindiVineet SharmaJugalbandi HindiChetan BhakuniMurmurs of the JungleMarathiSohil VaidyaNaad – The SoundBengaliAbhijit Ashok Paul (Abhijit A Paul)Pabung SyamManipuriHaobam Paban KumarThe Knocker HindiAnanth Narayan MahadevanSainbari To SandeshkhaliBengaliSanghamitra ChaudhuriThe Spell of PurpleGujaratiPrachee BajaniaSunpatGarhwaliRahul RawatSurmounting ChallengesEnglishSatish PandeSweet BiriyaniTamilJeyachandra Hashmi Teen Adhyay HindiSubash SahooVeerangana AssameseKishore KalitaVed...The VisionaryEnglishRajiv ParkashWitch SantaliJackie R. Bala
World Panorama 55 films were invited for screening under the World Panorama section.