Mumbai: Actor Raja Bundela will be heading the jury for the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
“Meet our esteemed jury for the Indian Panorama – Feature Films category at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), taking place in Goa from 20-28 November 2025,” IFFI announced on Monday.
“Chaired by the celebrated filmmaker and actor Raja Bundela, this distinguished panel of visionary storytellers and cinematic experts brings their artistry, insight, and dedication to honour the most powerful short films and documentaries from across India,” it added.
Bundela apart, other jury members include Krishna Hebbale, Kamlesh K Mishra, Malay Ray, Subhash Sehgal, Jadumoni Dutta, Aroon Baksi, Asim Sinha, Ashok Sharan, Sukumar Jatania, BS Basavaraju, Amaresh Chakrabarti and Napoleon Thanga.
The post was shared on social media with several hashtags such as #IFFI56, #IFFIGoa, #IFFI2025, #IndianPanorama.
However, the all-male jury panel didn’t please netizens, who took to the comments section to slam IFFI.
“Women filmmakers are busy making the headlines, so they felt a little left out, hence, they made a Manel!!” read one comment.
One user posted, “Did you not find any women on the jury in all of India?”
Another person wrote on Instagram, “Is there a separate panel for women with women-only feature films with an all-women jury? Or… ?”
“Lack of women in the jury is glaring, do better!” commented a netizen.
“Huh? What is this gender discrimination?” asked another person.
The 56th edition of the festival will take place in Goa from November 20 to 28.
The event will feature over 240 films from 81 countries, including 13 world premieres, four international premieres, and 46 Asian premieres.
Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro’s ‘The Blue Trail’ will be the opening film of the festival.
This year, the IFFI will also pay tribute to legendary filmmakers and artists, including Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla, Ritwik Ghatak, P. Bhanumathi, Bhupen Hazarika, and Salil Chowdhury, by showcasing their iconic works.
For the Indian Panorama section, Rajkumar Periasamy’s ‘Amaran’ (Tamil) will open the feature category, while ‘Kakori’ will open the non-feature category.
Several well-known artists from Indian and international cinema including Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Aamir Khan, Anupam Kher, Ravi Varman, Bobby Deol, Suhasini Maniratnam, Kushboo Sundar, Pete Draper, Sreekar Prasad, and Christopher Charles Corbould will be conducting masterclasses during the festival.
Films that have bagged awards at global festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno will also be screened at IFFI 2025.
‘It Was Just an Accident’ (Palme d’Or, Cannes), ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ (Golden Lion, Venice), ‘Dreams Sex Love’ (Golden Bear, Berlin), ‘Sirat’ (Grand Jury Prize, Cannes), ‘The Message’ (Silver Bear, Berlin), ‘No Other Choice’ (People’s Choice Award, TIFF), ‘Gloaming in Luomu’ (Best Film, Busan), ‘Fiume o Morte’ (Tiger Award, IFFR) are some of the films that can be viewed.
The festival will come to an end by honouring Rajinikanth’s remarkable 50-year journey in Indian cinema.