Pune International Film Festival

The Pune International Film Festival (also known as PIFF) is an annual film festival held in Pune, a city in Maharashtra, India. Open to general public, the films are screened at NFAI, Inox, City Pride, PVR cinema halls, all located in Pune city.

Dr Jabbar Patel is the chairman and director of the festival.

The festival commences on the second Thursday and concludes on the third Thursday of January. First Edition of PIFF was started in year 2002 and has been running annually except for 2004.

Latest PIFF was concluded on 16 January 2020 in its 18th edition. The theme of year was '60 Years of Foundation of Maharashtra'. It celebrated the centenary year of legends - Federico Fellini, Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shamshad Begum, and Pandit Ravi Shankar. It also paid tribute to late Dr Sriram Lagoo.

Festival categories

 * World Competition - Films released in earlier year compete for much-coveted 'Prabhat Best International Film Award'
 * Marathi Competition - Marathi films released in earlier year compete for 'Sant Tukaram Best International Marathi Film Award'
 * Student Section - Short films from film schools in India like FTII are screened.
 * Global Cinema - Non-competition category for cinema around the globe
 * Country Focus - A handful of films from one country
 * Theme Section - Films relating to the theme of the festival that year
 * Retrospective - Retrospective on Indian and Foreign director/actor
 * Indian Cinema - Offbeat films produced in India (usually excludes Bollywood and other Indian language mainstream films)
 * Tribute Section - Tribute to film personalities passed that year
 * Special Screening
 * PIFF Workshops - Talks, Seminars, and Workshops on varied subjects by Film Industry persons.
 * Student Animation Section - Short animation films for competition by students.This section was for few years.

Awards

 * Government of Maharashtra Prabhat Best International Film
 * Government of Maharashtra Prabhat Best International Film Director
 * Government of Maharashtra Sant Tukaram Best International Marathi Film

Sant Tukaram Best International Marathi Film Award winners
Since 2006, the Government of Maharashtra started awarding the best film in the Marathi competition section at the festival. An international jury watches the competing Marathi films to decide the winner. The award is named after the Marathi film Sant Tukaram, the first Indian entry to be screened at the 5th Venice International Film Festival.

Prabhat International Award Winners
The festival started an International Competition section from 2005. The Government of Maharashtra started awarding the best film and the best director in the International Competition. An international jury panel decides the awards. Select awards are listed below.

PIFF Distinguished Award
PIFF Distinguished Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema.