India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced its return for a second edition, set to run March 20-23, 2025 in Chandigarh, alongside its rebranded market component CinéV-CHD. The festival, which drew industry heavyweights like Karan Johar, Boman Irani, Sudhir Mishra, Shekhar Kapur, and Richa Chadha in its first outing, is expanding through a new […]

The annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the overlapping project market Film Bazaar have concluded what has been possibly their most successful editions yet and Variety was on hand to report on the proceedings. Here are some takeaways from the events. Global Interest in Indian Stories The international appeal of India-themed narratives, whether […]

Double Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman has music projects in every corner of the world. But none is bigger than his long-term plan to build a better India through culture. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) lifted the veil on his nation-building exercise and some of his immediate projects at a masterclass at the Internation Film Festival of India, […]

The democratizing potential and creative implications of artificial intelligence took center stage during a panel discussion at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, with filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who serves as festival director, “Ship of Theseus” director Anand Gandhi and OpenAI’s Pragya Misra exploring AI’s impact on filmmaking. Kapur said that AI recently […]

Recognizing the brilliance of British director Lucy Walker, both as a filmmaker and as an advocate for the documentary format, Shekhar Kapur hurriedly arranged an additional masterclass on Saturday at the International Film Festival of India, where he is festival director. And hosted the session himself. Their conversation ranged from technology and technique through to […]

During an extensive masterclass at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, veteran Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam engaged in conversation with actor-director Gautham Vasudev Menon about adapting literature to screen, his approach to period filmmaking, and his creative process. Discussing his recent two-part historical epic “Ponniyin Selvan,” based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1950s Tamil […]

Celebrated Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who serves as festival director of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, has outlined his vision for the 2024 edition, emphasizing a shift away from comparing Indian cinema to Western standards. “For a long time, at every festival, we’ve kind of looked down upon ourselves as though Indian […]

The opening ceremony of the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Wednesday crammed in several Bollywood-style performances. But it also took some time to deal with the business of cinema, as well. The spectacle came from “The Perfect Couple” breakout star Ishaan Khatter dancing to a medley of Bollywood hits and […]

Celebrated filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has revealed plans to establish a film school in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum district, with a specific focus on AI technology in filmmaking. The initiative builds on Kapur’s decade-long experience running The Dharavi Project alongside Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, a hip-hop and rap initiative in Dharavi in partnership with Universal Music that […]