A guide to Kolkata International Film Festival 2021: Apur Sansar, Saptapati, Bhranti Bilas

The 26th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival will kickstart from 8 January. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the festival with Shah Rukh Khan and director Anubhav Sinha in attendance, reports Times of India. The seven-day festival will commence by paying tribute to two greats — auteur Satyajit Ray on his birth centenary, and iconic Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who died of post-COVID complications in November last year. Here’s all you need to know about the film festival. Venue The films will be screened at several venues in the city, including Nandan, Rabindra Sadan, Sisir Mancha and Kolkata Information Centre. The festival will have physical screenings of all movies. There will be no online screening. Films Among 1,170 submissions this year, a total of 132 feature films, documentaries and short films have been selected to be showcased. Among these are 81 feature films, 50 short films and documentaries across 45 countries. Special event on Soumitra Chatterjee The festival will commence with the screening of Soumitra Chatterjee’s Apur Sansar at 5 pm on 8 January in Rabindra Sadan. His other films — Dekha, Ganadevata, Wheel Chair, Akash Kusum, Mayurakshi, Kony, Podokkhep and Bohomaan will also be showcased during the special tribute segment to the late veteran actor. “No prior booking will be required to watch Apur Sansar and like previous years, the cine adda will be held this year as well on the Nandan premises.” KIFF chairman Raj Chakraborty told Times of India.  Abhubhav Sinha Anubhav Sinha, who has helmed social dramas Thappad, Article 15 and Mulk, will be handing out the prestigious Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture this year. Booking seats Online bookings will begin at 10 am two days prior to the day the movies are scheduled to screen. Viewers can book their seats in advance on bookmyshow.com without making payment. Only one ticket per person per show is allowed. The M-ticket will be scanned at the entries of each auditorium. In case a viewer doesn’t have a smartphone, necessary support for booking will be provided at the help desk of each venue. Centenary tributes The festival will also pay centenary tributes to Pt Ravi Shankar, Hemanta Mukherjee, Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Eric Rohmer and Federico Fellini. As a tribute to Shankar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1960 Hindi film Anuradha will be screened. Saptapadi will be screened as a tribute to Hemanta Mukherjee. Bhranti Bilas has been selected as a tribute to Bhanu Bandopadhyay. In addition, there will be a screening of a documentary titled ‘Bhubonmoy Bhanu’ La Dolce Vita, I Vitelloni, Juliet of the Spirits, 8½ and The Voice of the Moon will be showcased to pay a tribute to Fellini. Get more information on the KIFF website.