International Film Festival of India 2009

The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2009 will take off from 23 November and will screen around 200 films from India and abroad.

The IFFI will have a best director and best film award this year, as announced by the Festival director S.M.Khan. The director and the producer of the film both will share the best film award. The winner gets the Golden Peacock award and Rs.40 lakh cash prize. And the best director and winner of the Special Jury Award gets silver peacock and cash prizes of Rs.15 lakh each. So as to promote short films IFFI has initiated awards 'Vasundhara' which is the award for best green documentary and the documentary competition.




It is the most sponsored film festival in the country and it is expected that its 40th edition will bring participation of around 50 countries. Academy award winner Ben Kingsley will be the guest of honour this year.

Germany's Indian Film Festival Has Fewer Participants

Germany's only Indian film festival has been scaled down since numerous sponsors had pulled out due to economic recession. The number of entries has dropped to 47 from 56 last year and will be shown at a venue on the outskirts of Stuttgart instead of in the city centre as in previous years.

The 6 day festival opens Tuesday with the German premiere of Zoya Akhtar's comedy Luck By Chance, which takes a peek behind the scenes of the glamourous world of Bollywood.

Feature films, shorts and documentaries from all over India will be shown at the event, organised by the Film Bureau of the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. In addition to Delhi 6 and Billu Barber. Dance performances, concerts and lectures are also part of the festival. Some of the films just show the wide spectrum of Indian Cinema.

A series of prizes will be awarded, among them the German Star of India, which will be worth 4,000 euros.