The 54th International Film Festival of India opened on 20 November 2023 with Catching Dust by Stuart Gatt in Goa. Shekhar Kapur an Indian filmmaker served as chairperson of the international jury. This year a new award category Best Web Series Award was introduced in the festival. 32 entries in 10 languages from 15 Over-the-top media service platforms were selected to compete for this award.
The festival closed on 28 November with American biographical sports drama film The Featherweight by Robert Kolodny. In the ceremony Hollywood actor-producer Michael Douglas was honoured with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Persian film Endless Borders by Abbas Amini, received the Golden Peacock award for the best film; whereas Stephan Komandarev won the Silver Peacock award for best director for the Bulgarian film Blaga's Lessons.
Opening and closing ceremonies
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony on 20 November 2023, hosted by Karishma Tanna and Aparshakti Khurana was aired live on Colors TV and JioCinema. In this edition over 270 films from 105 countries were screened. Madhuri Dixit was felicitated with the ‘Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema’ award at the festival. It was also streamed live on YouTube.
Closing ceremony
The festival closed on 28 November with The Featherweight an American biographical sports drama film on professional boxer Willie Pep by Robert Kolodny. Mandira Bedi hosted the closing ceremony, which was also streamed live on YouTube, in addition to broadcast on Colours TV channel.
Events
Master classes and in conversation: Masterclasses and In Conversation sessions with filmmakers, cinematographers, and actors were held at Kala Academy at Festival Mile, Panjim, during the festival. Michael Douglas American filmmaker, Brendan Galvin American poet, Brillante Mendoza Filipino independent filmmaker, Sunny Deol, Rani Mukerjee, Vidya Balan, John Goldwater, Vijay Sethupathi, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kay Kay Menon, Karan Johar, Madhur Bhandarkar, Manoj Bajpayee, Kartiki Gonsalves, Boney Kapoor, Allu Aravind, Theodore Gluck and Gulshan Grover among others were the guest speakers. Gala Premiers: Actors of the films having gala premiers at festival had talent walk on the red carpet to promote their films. Film Bazaar: It concluded on 24 November with around 1250 delegates attending the Bazaar. 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow: In competition of creating a short film in 48 hours on the theme of 'The Mission Life', Odh, a short film about the receding beach lines of Goa, bagged the best film award in '75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow' initiative.
Jury
International Jury
In addition to the Golden Peacock for best film, the Jury decides the winners in the Best Director, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female) and Special Jury Prize categories. The following are the members of the International Jury:
Shekhar Kapur, Indian filmmaker, Chairperson José Luis Alcaine, Spanish cinematographer Jerome Paillard, French film producer of international films Catherine Dussart, French film producer of international films Helen Leake, Australian film producer
Feature film jury
The Feature Films Jury headed by T.S Nagabharana is as follows:
T. S. Nagabharana, chairperson, Indian film director Karthik Raja, Indian composer Anjan Bose, filmmaker, producer, distributor Iti Rani Samanta, Indian columnist, journalist and film producer K. P. Vyasan, Indian film director Kamlesh Mishra, film director Kiran Ganti, film editor Milind Lele, film director Pradip Kurbah, film director Rama Vij, Indian actress Romi Meitei, Indian film director and lyricist Sanjay Jadhav, Indian cinematographer Vijay Pande, film director and editor
Non-feature film jury The Jury headed by Shri Arvind Sinha, has following seven member:
Arvind Sinha, chairperson, documentary filmmaker Arvind Pandey; film director and writer Bobby Wahengbam; Indian filmmaker, producer, writer and film critic Dip Bhuyan; film director Kamlesh Udasi; film director and producer Paushali Ganguli; animator, film director and screenwriter Varun Kurtkoti; film director
Best web series (OTT) award jury Rajkumar Hirani is serving as the head of the jury for the 'best web series (OTT)' award. Rajkumar Hirani, Indian filmmaker, director, producer, and editor Divya Dutta, Indian actress and model Prosenjit Chatterjee, Indian actor and producer Krishna DK Indian filmmaker Utpal Borpujari, filmmaker and film critic
75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow Grand Jury
Shreya Ghoshal, Playback Singer A. Sreekar Prasad, Editor Manoj Joshi, Actor Veera Kapur, Costume designer and make-up artist Priya Seth, Cinematographer Saraswathi Vani Balgam, Animator, VFX artist and AR-VR developer Saleel Kulkarni, Music composer Umesh Shukla, Filmmaker Sabu Cyril, Art director Aseem Arora, Screenwriter
Selection Jury
Manoj Tiger, Actor Nidhi Hegde, Actress Abhishek Jain, Filmmaker Manish Sharma, Filmmaker Charudutt Acharya, Screenwriter Deepak Kingrani, Screenwriter Charuvi Agrawal, Animator, VFX artist and AR-VR developer Deepak Singh, Animator, VFX artist and AR-VR developer Naveen Nooli, Editor Suresh Pai, Editor Dharam Gulati, Cinematographer Subhransu Das, Cinematographer Nachiket Barve, Costume designer and make-up artist Bishakh Jyoti, Playback singer Anmol Bhave, Music composer Sabyasachi Bose, Art director
Official selection Sections Gala Premiere Kaleidoscope section Golden Peacock Award Films for debut competition ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal Docu-Montage Intergrade Animation Macabre Dreams Indian Panorama Feature films Mainstream Cinema Section Non-feature films Indian Cinema 2023 Accessible India – Accessible Films Special screening Cinema of the World Restored Classics UNICEF @ IFFI
Opening and closing films
Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Opening films 2023Catching Dust Stuart Gatt United Kingdom Indian Panorama feature film 2023Aattam Anand Ekarshi IndiaIndian Panorama non-feature film 2023Andro Dreams Longjam Meena Devi IndiaMid fest film 2023 About Dry Grasses Kuru Otlar Üstüne Nuri Bilge Ceylan Turkey, France, GermanyClosing film 2023The Featherweight Robert Kolodny United States
Gala Premiere
English title Original title Director(s) Language Dear Jassi Tarsem Singh Punjabi, English Dhootha Vikram Kumar Telugu Dil Hai Gray Susi Ganesan Hindi Farrey Soumendra Padhi HindiGandhi Talks Kishor Pandurang Belekar Silent Grey Games Gangadhar Salimath Kannada Hurry Om Hurry Nisarg Vaidya Gujarati Kadak Singh Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury Hindi Rautu Ki Beli Anand Surapur Hindi The Village Milind Rau Tamil
Kaleidoscope section 18 films were shortlisted for screening under Kaleidoscope section.
Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 2023 Anatomy of a Fall Anatomie d'une chute Justine Triet France 2023 Close Your Eyes Cerrar los ojos Víctor Erice Spain, Argentina 2023 Cobweb 거미집 Kim Jee-woon South Korea 2023 Concrete Utopia 콘크리트 유토피아 Um Tae-hwa South Korea 2023 Elegies 詩 Ann Hui Hong Kong 2023 Essential Truths of the Lake Lav Diaz Denmark, Germany, Sweden, France, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom 2023Eureka Lisandro Alonso France, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal 2023How to Have Sex Molly Manning Walker United Kingdom 2023Io capitano Matteo Garrone Italy, Belgium 2023 Lost in the Night Perdidos en la noche Amat Escalante Mexico, Germany 2023Memory Michel Franco Mexico, United States 2023MMXX Cristi Puiu Romania 2023Moro Brillante Mendoza Philippines 2023Scrapper Charlotte Regan United Kingdom 2023 Snow Leopard 雪豹 Pema Tseden China 2023The Zone of Interest Jonathan Glazer United States, United Kingdom, Poland 2023 Upon Open Sky A Cielo Abierto Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga Mexico, Spain 2023Yannick Quentin Dupieux France
Golden Peacock Award 15 international and Indian fiction feature films competed for the Golden Peacock Award Highlighted title indicates award winner Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 2023 Andragogy Budi Pekerti Wregas Bhanuteja Indonesia 2023 Blaga's Lessons Уроците на Блага Stephan Komandarev Bulgaria, Germany 2023 Bosnian Pot Pavo Marinković Croatia 2023 Endless Borders Abbas Amini Iran 2023 Hoffman's Fairy Tales Tina Barkalaya Russia 2023Lubo Giorgio Diritti Italy, Switzerland 2023 Measures of MenDer vermessene Mensch Lars Kraume Germany 2023 Party of Fools Arnaud des Pallières France 2022 The Other Widow הפילגש Ma'Ayan Rypp Israel 2023 Woman Of... Kobieta z... Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert Poland, Sweden 2023 Asog Seán Devlin Canada, Philippines 2023 Die Before Death Umri prije smrti Ahmed Imamovic Bosnia And Herzegovina 2022 Kantara ಕಾಂತಾರ Rishab Shetty India 2023 Sanaa Sudhanshu Saria India 2022 Mirbeen Mridul Gupta India
Films for debut competition
This competition category is a platform for upcoming filmmakers from India and abroad. Seven debut films were nominated in this category.
Highlighted title indicates award winner Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 2023 Almost Entirely A Slight Disaster Umut Subaşı Turkey 2023 Let Me Go Maxime Rappaz Switzerland 2023 Ocarina Alban Zogjani Albania 2023 Sleep 잠 Jason Yu South Korea 2022 When The Seedlings Grow Rêger Azad Kaya Syrian Arab Republic 2023 Dhai Aakhar Parveen Arora India 2023 Iratta Rohit M.G. Krishnan India
IFFI ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal Highlighted title indicates award winner
Year English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 2022 A House In Jerusalem Muayad Alayan Palestine, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Qatar 2023 Citizen Saint Tinatin Kajrishvili Georgia 2023 Drift Anthony Chen UK, France, Greece 2023Sira Apolline Traoré Burkina Faso, France, Germany, Senegal 2022 Kalev Ove Musting Estonian, Russian 2022 The Prize! Onde Mande! Paul Fauzan Agusta Indonesia 2022 The Sugar Experiment John Tornblad Sweden 2023 Mandali Rakesh Chaturvadi Om India 2022Malikappuram Vishnu Sasi Shankar India 2023 Rabindra Kabya Rahasya Sayantan Ghosal India
Docu-Montage
This section comprises documentaries & docu-drama.
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) AI:African Intelligence Manthia Diawara Portugal And The King Said, What A Fantastic Machine Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck Sweden, Denmark Casablanca Adriano Valerio France, Italy Luto Andres Arochi Tinajero Mexico Revenge: Our Dad The Nazi Killer Danny Ben-Moshe Australia Room 999 Chambre 999 Lubna Playoust France Samuel and the Light Samuel ea luz Vinícius Girnys France The Last Days Of Humanity Gli Ultimi Giorni Dell'Umanità Enrico Ghezzi, Alessandro Gagliardo Italy The Trial El Juico Ulises de la Orden Argentina Vista Mare Julia Gutweniger, Florian Kofler Austria
Intergrade English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Divinity Eddie Alcazar United StatesHe Thought He Died Isiah Medina CanadaKnit's Island Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’helgoualc’h FranceOnce Within a Time Godfrey Reggio, Jon Kane United States Omen Augure Baloji Belgium, Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Congo
Animation English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)3 Little Kungpoo Goats The Gools Kianoush Dalvand, Farzad Dalvand United Arab EmiratesBim Tom Van Gestel Belgium Four Souls of Coyote Kojot négy lelke Aron Gauder Hungary Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds Sirocco Et Le Royaume Des Courants D'Air Benoit Chieux Belgium, France The Other Shape La otra forma Diego Felipe Guzmán Colombia The Peasants Chłopi Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman Poland, Serbia, Lithuania Toldi Toldi Marcell Jankovics HungaryLittle Singham Bahubali Friends Ankur Chauhan IndiaDr. Minestein Sonali Jawale IndiaPrabho Shivaji Raja Nilesh Muley IndiaReturn of the Jungle Vaibhav Kumaresh IndiaThe Light Team of Godlywood Studio India
Macabre Dreams