Bhubaneswar: Film Society Bhubaneswar Monday returned with its 13th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Bhubaneswar (IFFB), a weeklong event comprising screenings of content-driven Indian movies, at the Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneswar. In the opening address, the President of the Film Society Bhubaneswar, Subrata Beura, welcomed the guests and audience to the event. The festival kicked off with a special screening of the Tamil film Jigarthanda Double X by Karthik Subbaraj.
The movie, set in the 1970s, delves into the challenges of artistic questions of filmmaking, structured around a ganglord wanting to make a film and his travails. Subas Das directorial Odia movie Ekaa Ekaa, starring Sidhant Mahapatra, was the next to follow. The 134-minute long film explores the journey and struggle of a filmmaker. The day continued following independent film screenings and conversations: two short films, Shera and My Mother’s Girlfriend by director Arun Fulara. The former is about what happens when two relationships collide, while the latter revolves around Monu’s obsession with sighting Shera, the elusive leopard living in the forest around his remote Himalayan village.
The IFFB’s Mani Kaul Retrospective, featuring seven of his masterpieces, started with the screening of the Hindi film Uski Roti. The movie, set in a village, revolves around the story of a young wife waiting for her long-distance truck driver husband. Throughout the festival, there will be post-screening conversations with the directors Haobam Paban Kumar, Harshad Nalawade, Subas Das, Aman Sachdeva, Rajni Basumatary, Don Palathara, and Bobby Sharma Baruah.