Film Fest In Bhubaneswar To Begin With Screening Of Manmohan Mohapatra’s ‘Bhija Matira Swarga’

Bhubaneswar: The 11th edition of Indian Film festival of Bhubaneswar (IFFB) begin here on January 23 with the screening of ‘Bhija Matira Swarga’, the last film of noted Odia filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra.

This year, the four-day festival is dedicated to the ‘Father of New Wave Odia Cinema’ and winner of eight consecutive national film awards, who passed away on January 13.

Produced by Akshay Parija, the film bagged awards in six categories at the 30th State Film Awards, including best film, best director for Manmohan Mohapatra, best actor for Mihir Das, best photographer for Dillip Ray, best screenplay for Ashutosh Mohapatra and best dialogue writer award for Nandalal Mohapatra.

Films that are recipients of critical acclaim at both national and international festivals for their artistic merit and socio-cultural relevance will be screened at the festival, which will conclude with Master filmmaker Goutam Ghosh’s latest film ‘Raahgir’. The festival will also pays homage to the works of auteur late Mrinal Sen, said Film Society of Bhubaneswar secretary Subrat Beura.

Award-winning filmmakers Ronny Sen (Catstix), Wanphrang Diengdoh (Lorni), Fahim Irshad (Aani Maani) and Aban Raza (Mcream) will attend the festival and participate in workshops.

A national student film competition will evaluate over 50 films made by students from across the country and the best among them will feature at the festival being organised by Film Society of Bhubaneswar with support from Kerala Chalachitra Academy, National Film Archives of India, Movie Saints and India Foundation for the Arts.