Panaji, Nov 21 (FN Agency) Eusebio Pacha, producer of ‘The King of All the World’, the film which opened the 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India, has said that exchange of artists and cinema through international co production of movies was the need of the hour to propagate Indian films on the world arena. Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the IFFI, he said Indian films stay much too within India and there was a need to let the world know more about how great the films were.
“The need of the hour is to take initiatives for international coproduction of movies. exchange of artists, cinema and culture can be done easily this way,” he said. “The King of All the World (El Rey de Todo El Mundo), written and directed by Carlos Saura, is the last of the musical trilogy which plays heir to his own movies Carmen (1983) and Tango (1998). It is his creative obsession with musical documentaries which led to the 12-year-long hiatus from fictional movies, explains Eusebio Pacha. On Saura’s passion for music and dance, Pacha said, “In The King of All the World, all kinds of music – be it folklore, traditional or modern – from Mexico and from other parts of Latin America, were fused together to make a strong musical confluence.”
Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who was honoured with Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award at the 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), said films of Satyajit Ray opened a whole new world for him. “I am honoured to receive such an award named after one of the truly great filmmakers of all time and my inspiration, Satyajit Ray. I have returned to Ray’s work over and over again and every time I watch his movies, it becomes a whole new experience. Watching Pather Panchali was a revelatory experience for me and it opened a whole new world for me,” the filmmaker said in a video message. Remembering how intimacy, immediacy, tenderness and sensuality played crucial roles in Ray’s films, he said the music of Ray’s films inspired him in the making of music in his own films.
The 52nd edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) began with a spectacular opening ceremony in this coastal state here. The festival was inaugurated by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur in the presence of Goa Governor S Sridhar Pillai, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Union Minister of State Dr L Murugan, Shripad Naik, MP Hema Malini, Lyricist Prasoon Joshi, among others. Renowned actress and Member of Parliament Hema Malini and Lyricist Prasoon Joshi were given Indian Film Personality of the year award. Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement awards were given to Martin Scrosese and Istevan Szabo. International Jury members were felicitated by Thakur. The nine-day festival is to feature 148 films from about 73 countries in the International Section with about 12 world premieres, seven international premieres, 26 Asia premieres and about 64 India premieres.