The much-anticipated Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) will be held from March 4 to March 11 this year. Considering the current COVID circumstance, the celebration this year will contact the crowd in 2 configurations – Online and Theater and all wellbeing rules, which will be essentially at the hour of the celebration will be carefully clung to. This data was given by Dr. Jabbar Patel, Festival Director, PIFF at a question and answer session held in Pune today.
Dignitaries including Ravi Gupta, Secretary, Pune Film Foundation, Samar Nakhate, Creative Director, PIFF, Prakash Magdum, Director, NFAI were available at the gathering.
Talking at the gathering Dr. Patel stated, “The year 2020 was a year of uncertainty, fear and struggle. Happily, we enter 2021 with Hope. The efforts of the frontline warriors of COVID are paying off. The pandemic is coming under control, the vaccination campaign is in full swing and there is hope of return to normalcy. PIFF, which is the official Film Festival of Government of Maharashtra had to be postponed and now for the first time will reach its niche audience in 2 formats, which will be Online and in Theatre to ensure greater safety and security for the viewers. The viewers can choose their way of watching the selected movies. This year, the Film Festival of Maharashtra has received about 1611 film entries from 93 countries out of which 180 films have been chosen by the selection committee to be presented at the festival in various sections. PIFF 2021 is dedicated to the frontline warriors of COVID.
“State finance minister Ajit Pawar had announced a grant of Rs. 4 Cr for the Pune International Film Festival in the last budget session. However, considering the current situation of pandemic we requested the state government to allot Rs. 2.5Cr for the festival this year”, informed Dr. Patel.
As regular the coordinators of Pune International Film Festival would likewise be sorting out the worldwide film celebration at Mumbai and Nagpur. This year it will likewise happen at Latur.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Daily Pune journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
