29th Kolkata International Film Festival

The 29th Kolkata International Film Festival began on 5 December 2023 at Netaji Indoor Stadium, in Kolkata, India. A 1963 romantic comedy Bengali film Deya Neya by Sunil Bannerjee opened the festival, which screened 219 films from 39 countries. Spain and Australia were country of focus in this edition of the festival. The opening ceremony was attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha, Mahesh Bhatt and cricketer Sourav Ganguly among others.

The festival closed on 12 December with the announcement of the awards in the closing ceremony, attended by filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, actor-dancer Mamata Shankar and actress Aditi Rao Hydari among others. Children of Nobody by Erez Tadmor, an Israeli film on the challenges faced by inmates of a shelter for at-risk youths was awarded 'Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award' for the best film whereas Carlos Malave of Venezuela, received the 'Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Director' for his film One Way.

Highlights of the year
KIFF's title song

The title song of the festival, written by Srijato, composed by Indraadip Dasgupta and sung Arijit Singh is highlight of this year.

Paying tribute to legends

Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen, Indian actor Dev Anand, British feature-film, theatre and documentary director Lindsay Anderson, English actor, film director and producer Richard Attenborough, American actor Charlton Heston, Senegalese film director, producer and writer Ousmane Sembène, Indian playback singer Mukesh and Indian Hindi-Urdu Poet, lyricist and film producer Shailendra all having birth centenary this year will be given special tribute in the festival.

Exhibitions of Mrinal Sen and Dev Anand were unveiled at Nandan and Nazrul Tirtha on 7 December.

Bengali Panorama section

The section is a competitive section from this year and the winner's purse is ₹7.5 lakh.

Paying homage through special tribute

Italian actress, model, photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida; Spanish film director, photographer Carlos Saura; English film critic and historian Derek Malcolm; Indian cinematographer Soumendu Roy and Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, who all passed away in 2023 will be paid homage.

PR and social media

A new category called 'PR and social media' is introduced to reach out to people interested in films across the globe.

International jury
International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images


 * Pavel Lungin, (Chairperson), Russian film director.
 * Laurence Kardish, author of Reel Plastic Magic (1972), a textbook on American filmmaking, and has also been a playwright and filmmaker
 * Tigmanshu Dhulia, Indian film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director.
 * Ángela Molina, Spanish actress
 * Manijeh Hekmat, Iranian film director

Competition on Indian language's films


 * Rüdiger Suchsland, German film journalist, film critic and director
 * Amal Ayouch, Moroccan actress
 * Mariam Al Ferjani, Tunisian actress, scriptwriter, director, and artist

Asian Select (NETPAC Award)


 * Patrick F. Campos, associate professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman and Film Institute and a member of NETPAC.
 * Madhurima Sinha, Indian writer and filmmaker
 * Ilgar Guliyev, Azerbaijan film director

Bengali Panorama


 * P. Sheshadri, Indian film director
 * Dnyanesh Zoting, Indian director and writer
 * Padmapriya Janakiraman, Indian actress

Competition on Indian short films
 * Amaresh Chakraborti, retired professor of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata
 * Abhro Banerjee, film editor
 * Paresh Kamdar, Indian director and editor

Competition on Indian documentary films


 * R.V. Ramani, Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and teacher,
 * Putul Mahmood, filmmaker, producer and teacher
 * Malati Rao, Indian filmmaker

Official selection
Sections


 * Competition categories
 * Non-Competition Categories
 * Best of Contemporary Australian Cinema
 * Centenary tribute
 * Cinema International

International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images
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 * Highlighted title indicates award winner

Competition on Indian Language's Films
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Asian Select (NETPAC Award)
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Bengali Panorama
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Centenary tribute

 * International


 * Indian

Focus on Australian Horror
As spotlight is on Australia, being Special Feature Country, a selection of Australian outback horror films were presented. The festival also launched the 'Kolkata Tram of Horror', to embark on a spine-chilling tram ride through the world of Australian horror films.

Kurdish Cinema: In Search of Identity
Seven films by the directors of the Kurdish origin will be presented at the festival in a package.

Pavel Lungin
Pavel Lungin is a Russian film director.

Retrospective: Bruce Beresford
The festival presented a retrospective of six films by the Australian director Bruce Beresford including the 1989 oscar-winning film Driving Miss Daisy.

Winners
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 * Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Film:
 * Children Of Nobody by Erez Tadmor
 * Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Director: Carlos Daniel Malave for One Way
 * Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Short: Last Rehearsal by Kamil Saif
 * Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Documentary: Challenge by Ramen Borah, Sibanu Borah
 * Special Jury mention (Innovation in Moving Pictures): Kaleidoscope Now by Anjan Dutt
 * Hiralal Sen Memorial Award Best Film (Indian language's films) : Wild Swans by Rajni Basumatary
 * Hiralal Sen Memorial Award Best Director (Indian language's films) : Shonet Anthony Barretto for Avni Ki Kismat
 * Bengali Panorama Best Film : Mind Flies by Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti
 * Special Jury mention (Indian language's films):
 * Josephs Son by Haobam Paban Kumar
 * NETPAC Award for Best Film : Broken Dreams: Stories from the Myanmar Coup by the Ninefold Mosaic