The 29th Kolkata International Film Festival began on 5 December 2023 at Netaji Indoor Stadium, in Kolkata, India and ended on 12 December 2023. A 1963 romantic comedy Bengali film Deya Neya by Sunil Bannerjee opened the festival, which screened 219 films from 39 countries. Spain and Australia were country of focus in this edition of the festival. The opening ceremony was attended by Special Chief Guest India Super Star Salman Khan West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Anil Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha, Mahesh Bhatt and cricketer Sourav Ganguly among others.
The festival closed on 12 December with the announcement of the awards in the closing ceremony, attended by filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, actor-dancer Mamata Shankar and actress Aditi Rao Hydari among others. Children of Nobody by Erez Tadmor, an Israeli film on the challenges faced by inmates of a shelter for at-risk youths was awarded 'Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award' for the best film whereas Carlos Malave of Venezuela, received the 'Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Director' for his film One Way.
Highlights of the year KIFF's title song
The title song of the festival, written by Srijato, composed by Indraadip Dasgupta and sung Arijit Singh is highlight of this year.
Paying tribute to legends
Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen, Indian actor Dev Anand, British feature-film, theatre and documentary director Lindsay Anderson, English actor, film director and producer Richard Attenborough, American actor Charlton Heston, Senegalese film director, producer and writer Ousmane Sembène, Indian playback singer Mukesh and Indian Hindi-Urdu Poet, lyricist and film producer Shailendra all having birth centenary this year will be given special tribute in the festival.
Exhibitions of Mrinal Sen and Dev Anand were unveiled at Nandan and Nazrul Tirtha on 7 December.
Bengali Panorama section
The section is a competitive section from this year and the winner's purse is .
Paying homage through special tribute
Italian actress, model, photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida; Spanish film director, photographer Carlos Saura; English film critic and historian Derek Malcolm; Indian cinematographer Soumendu Roy and Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, who all died in 2023 will be paid homage.
PR and social media
A new category called 'PR and social media' is introduced to reach out to people interested in films across the globe.
Jury International jury International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images
Pavel Lungin, (Chairperson), Russian film director. Laurence Kardish, author of Reel Plastic Magic (1972), a textbook on American filmmaking, and has also been a playwright and filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia, Indian film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director. Ángela Molina, Spanish actress Manijeh Hekmat, Iranian film director
Competition on Indian language's films
Rüdiger Suchsland, German film journalist, film critic and director Amal Ayouch, Moroccan actress Mariam Al Ferjani, Tunisian actress, scriptwriter, director, and artist
Asian Select (NETPAC Award)
Patrick F. Campos, associate professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman and Film Institute and a member of NETPAC. Madhurima Sinha, Indian writer and filmmaker Ilgar Guliyev, Azerbaijan film director
Bengali Panorama
P. Sheshadri, Indian film director Dnyanesh Zoting, Indian director and writer Padmapriya Janakiraman, Indian actress
Competition on Indian short films Amaresh Chakraborti, retired professor of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata Abhro Banerjee, film editor Paresh Kamdar, Indian director and editor
Competition on Indian documentary films
R.V. Ramani, Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and teacher, Putul Mahmood, filmmaker, producer and teacher Malati Rao, Indian filmmaker
Official selection Sections
Competition categories Non-Competition Categories Best of Contemporary Australian Cinema Centenary tribute Cinema International
Inaugural film Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Inaugural Film 1963 Give and Take Deya Neya Sunil Bannerjee India
Competition categories
International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images Source:
Highlighted title indicates award winner
Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 2023 60 Days Ismail Doruk Turkey 2022 A Letter from Helga Svar við bréfi Helgu Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir Iceland, Netherlands, Estonia 2023 Broken Borders Soy lo que nunca fui Rodrigo Alvarez Flores Mexico 2022 Children of Nobody Erez Tadmor Israel 2023 Clara Sabin Dorohoi Romania, Germany 2022 Filip Michał Kwieciński Poland 2023 Four Seasons Maxim Shabalin Russia 2023 Gondola Veit Helmer Germany, Georgia 2023 Kaleidoscope Now Chalchitra Ekhon Anjan Dutt India 2023 Land of Our Mothers Tierra de nuestras madres Liz Lobato Spain 2022 One Way Carlos Daniel Malave Venezuela 2023 Scarlet Blue Aurelia Mengin France 2023 We Will Not Fade Away Alisa Kovalenko Ukraine, Poland, France
Competition on Indian Language's Films
Year English title Original title Director(s) 2023 Avni Ki Kismat Shonet Anthony Barretto 2023 Quiet Flows the Dead Ozhuki Ozhuki Ozhuki Sanjeev Sivan 2023Blue Sunshine Samyuktha Vijayan 2023Kherwal Uttam Kamati 2023 Joseph's Son Josephki Macha Haobam Paban Kumar 2023 The Ascension Onkara Unni KR 2023 Valli Manoj Shinde 2023 Wild Swans Gorai Phakhri Rajni Basumatary 2023 Kandeelu The Ray Of Hope K Yashoda Prakash 2023 Surrender Samarpan Arup Manna 2023 Autumn Afternoon Hemantar Aparanha Ashoke Viswanathan 2023A Boy Who Dreamt of Electricity Jigar Madanlal Nagda 2023SUZIE Q Chandan Roy Sanyal 2023Whispers of Fire and Water Lubdhak Chatterjee 2023 The Nellie Story Nellier Kotha Parthajit Baruah 2023Saayavanam Anil Kumar
Asian Select (NETPAC Award)
Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 2023 Gods Gift Tenirberdi Asel Zhuraeva Kyrgyzstan 2023 Barren Waters Nona Pani Syeda Neegar Banu Bangladesh 2023 Broken Dreams: Stories from the Myanmar Coup The Ninefold Mosaic Myanmar 2023 Walker Joel Lamangan Philippines 2023 Nanda School of Tradition Nanda Master'nka Chatasali Pranab Kumar Aich India 2023 No Winter Holidays Rajan Kathet, Sunir Pandey Nepal 2023 And, Towards Happy Alleys Sreemoyee Singh India
Competition on Indian Short Films English title Original title Director(s) Alvida - The Last Goodbye Dilu Maliackal Beep Mrinal Deka Funeral Bier Gahvara Tariq MohammadLast Rehearsal Kamil Saif Letterbox Suman Bhaduri, Suvadeep Sarkar My Father Is Afraid Of Water Papa Ko Pani Se Dar Lagta Hai Prateek Rajendra Srivastava Pardon Sahdev Gholap
Competition on Indian Documentary Films English title Original title Director(s) Tiger Army Sourabhkanti Dutta Forged in Fire Bindu Nair, Sayyam Khanna Someday Vishal P. Chaliha Music of Rejuvenation Nobo Jagoroner Gaan Subha Das Mollick LANGUR The Man Monkey Haider khan Challenge Ramen Borah Shrinking Of The Sturdy : Sabar Tales Abhijit Chakraborty
Bengali Panorama
Year English title Original title Director(s) 2023 Mind Flies Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti 2023 Autumn Flies Bijoyar Pore Abhijit Sri Das 2023 Widows of the wild Bonbibi Rajdeep Ghosh 2023 Asampurno Amartya Sinha 2023 Invisible Chord Matripaksha Rajesh Roy 2023 We shall come back Abar Ashibo Firey Debapratim Dasgupta 2023 Awnath Anisul
Non-Competition Categories
Best of Contemporary Australian Cinema
Year English title Director(s) 2023 Shayda Noora Niasari 2021 The Dry Robert Connolly 2021 My Name Is Gulpilil Molly Reynolds 2023 Limbo Ivan Sen 2023 Sweet As Jub Clerc 2023 The Survival of Kindness Rolf de Heer
Centenary tribute International Year English title Director Production countrie(s)Charlton Heston 1958 Touch of Evil Orson Welles United States 1959 Ben-Hur William Wyler United StatesCharlton Heston Year English title Original title Production countrie(s)Richard Attenborough 1982Gandhi United Kingdom, IndiaLindsay Anderson 1968If.... United KingdomOusmane Sembene 1963 Borom Sarret Charretier Senegal
Indian Year English title Original title Language Mrinal Sen 1972 Calcutta 71 Bengali 1980 Akaler Shandhaney আকালের সন্ধানে Bengali 1983 The Case is Closed Kharij Bengali 1977 The Marginal Ones Oka Oori Katha Telugu 1969 Bhuvan Shome Hindi 1971 Interview Bengali
Year English title Original title Director Dev Anand 1951 Sazaa Fali Mistry 1970 Johny Mera Naam Vijay Anand 1967 Jewel Thief Vijay Anand 1949 Jeet Mohan Sinha 1965 Guide Vijay Anand 1956 C.I.D. Raj Khosla 1951 Baazi Guru Dutt Mukesh (singer) and Shailendra (lyricist) 1966 Teesri Kasam Basu Bhattacharya
Cinema International English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Sweet Dreams Ena Sendijarević Netherlands, Sweden Anatomy of a Fall Anatomie d'une chute Justine Triet France How to Have Sex Molly Manning Walker United Kingdom Concrete Utopia 콘크리트 유토피아 Um Tae-hwa South Korea The Zone of Interest Jonathan Glazer United States, United Kingdom, Poland Monster 怪物 Hirokazu Koreeda Japan About Dry Grasses Kuru Otlar Üstüne Nuri Bilge Ceylan Turkey, France, Germany Cobweb 거미집 Kim Jee-woon South Korea Sleep 잠 Jason Yu South Korea Perfect Days Wim Wenders Japan, Germany Fallen Leaves (film) Kuolleet lehdet Aki Kaurismäki Finland, Germany Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert Margarethe von Trotta Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg Lost in the Night Perdidos en la noche Amat Escalante Mexico, Germany Kidnapped Rapito Marco Bellocchio Italy, France, Germany Club Zero Jessica Hausner Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, United Kingdom A Brighter Tomorrow Il sol dell'avvenire Nanni Moretti Italy, France Last Summer L'Été dernier Catherine Breillat France The Old Oak Ken Loach United Kingdom, France, Belgium Critical Zone Mantagheye bohrani Ali Ahmadzadeh Iran, Germany Behind the Mountains Oura el jbel Mohamed Ben Attia Tunisia, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar Explanation for Everything Magyarázat mindenre Gábor Reisz Hungary, Slovakia Essential Truths of the Lake Lav Diaz Philippines, France, Singapore, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World Nu aștepta prea mult de la sfârșitul lumii Radu Jude Romania, Luxembourg, France, Croatia The Promised Land Bastarden Nikolaj Arcel Denmark, Germany, Sweden The Beast La Bête Bertrand Bonello France The Monk and the Gun Pawo Choyning Dorji Bhutan, France, United States, Taiwan Green Border Zielona granica Agnieszka Holland Poland, France, Czech Republic, BelgiumIo capitano Matteo Garrone Italy, BelgiumDaaaaaalí! Quentin Dupieux FranceThe Palace Roman Polanski Italy, Switzerland, Poland, France For Night Will Come En attendant la nuit Celine Rouzet France, Belgium Red Island L'Île rouge Robin Campillo France, BelgiumHomecoming Catherine Corsini France Through the Night Quitter la nuit Delphine Girard BelgiumMMXX Cristi Puiu Romania Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell Bên trong vỏ kén vàng Phạm Thiên Ân Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain Moro Brillante Mendoza Philippines Mira Мира Dmitry Kiselyov Russian
Films on Environment English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Antarctica Calling Voyage au pôle Sud Luc Jacquet France All That Breathes Shaunak Sen India, United Kingdom, United States
Focus Country: Spain English title Original title Director(s) Matria Álvaro Gago Strange Way of Life Extraña forma de vida Pedro Almodóvar 20,000 Species of Bees 20.000 especies de abejas Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Focus on Australian Horror As spotlight is on Australia, being Special Feature Country, a selection of Australian outback horror films were presented. The festival also launched the 'Kolkata Tram of Horror', to embark on a spine-chilling tram ride through the world of Australian horror films. English title Original title Director(s)100 Bloody Acres Cameron Cairnes, Colin CairnesPicnic at Hanging Rock Peter WeirWolf Creek Greg McLean