Capital to host its first 'Delhi International Film Festival'

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) After getting the glimpse of Arab and Asian cinema at the Osian's Cinefan Film Festival, get set for first ever Delhi International Film Festival (DIFF) Dec 21-27, which the capital hosts.

to know more about world cinema as the capital prepares to host its .

As many as 150 films from across 70 countries including France, Israel, Britain and Brazil will be showcased during the week-long festival showcasing world cinema, that will be held at Siri Fort Auditorium and NDMC Convention Centre.

"In my point of view, the DIFF is not just the festival of films. It is the vision of bringing the world together at a universal platform, far away from the lines of controls and boundaries that mankind has created," filmmaker-writer Suresh K. Goswami, who is also the festival director, said at the launch of the festival.

He was accompanied by Ram Kishore Parcha, senior film journalist and president of DIFF and filmmaker Sanjay Singh, vice president DIFF.

"Moreover, Delhi is rich in terms of culture and heritage, but unfortunately it doesn't have its own platform to showcase creativity and that is the reason why we wanted to have our own international film festival here," he added.

Classical films from overseas and India will be showcased across 10 sections, including Delhi Scope section in the festival. The Retrospective, Tributes and Homage section will include films of Dev Anand, Balraj Sahni and other legendary filmmakers and actors.

The World Cinema section will showcase films like "Daughters of Hill" by Patrizia Landi, "The Artist" by Michel Hazanavicius, "Jeremiah" by Eran Paz, "Love Bird" by Susan Collins, "The Sunshine in The Corner" by Sun Hao Young, "Mar" by Caner Erzincan among others. It will also include seminars and workshops.

The festival has a special section called NRI Cinema, under which 15 films by non-resident Indians living in different parts of the world will be showcased. Another section is dedicated to the NRI writers. DIFF will also have an art exhibition in which artworks of people across the world will be showcased.

Also present at the occasion was filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia and Shiney Ahuja.

"With a festival like this young and aspiring filmmakers across the country will benefit a lot," said Dhulia.

Adds Shiney, "Film festivals are great medium for aspiring filmmakers to come and showcase their talent and eventually they get a lot of publicity without any extra expense. And that publicity helps for the mainstream release in a big way."

Organised by Social Circle, the festival has partnered with Broadway International Film Festival, Los Angeles, South Cinema South Film Festival, and JMT from Israel, Slade school of fine arts, London, Film factory China, Turkish Film Industry, Cinetech Nationale Mexico, Brazil films, Media Box Bangladesh, Hunarkada from Pakistan, Film Boutique from Germany, Nantes Film Festival of France and French Cultural Centre.