Bangalore, February 6, 2020:- The 12th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival will be held in Bengaluru. The Inauguration of the Festival will be held on the evening of Wednesday, February 26, 2020, and Closing Ceremony and award distribution on the evening of Thursday March 04, 2020.

The opening event will be held in the presence of National and International delegates, Film makers and other Celebrities at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Kasturba Road, Bengaluru and will be inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Sri.B.S. Yediyurappa.

The closing event will be held at the Banquet Hall, Vidhana Soudha and His Excellency, the Governor of Karnataka Sri Vajubhai Valahas kindly consented to present the awards to the winners of the Competitions under Asian, Indian and Kannada films Sections.

The Foreign delegate contingent include Ms. Florence Girot, Director for Film Festivals representing the International Federation of Film Producers from France, Mr. Tanel Toom, Filmmaker from Estonia,  Ms. Claire Dobbin, Australian script Advisor/ Editor, Melbourne International Film Festival,Indonesian Filmmaker M. Reza Fahriansyah, Ms. Shorafat Arabovafrom Tajikistan, Italo Spinelli from Italy, Evgeny Ruman from Israel, Film Critics Mr. Andreas Ungerboeck from Austria, Mr. Giovanni Vimercati from Italy/Slovenia, Ms. Barbara Lorey Charriere and Ms. Nada Azhari Gillonfrom France, Producer and Film Festival Programmer Mr. John Badalu from Indonesia, Festival Programmers Ms. Sasha Ahmadshchina from Russia, International Jury coordinator Mr. Ashley Ratnavibhushana from Sri Lanka and a host of film makers from the Asian region like  Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Korea, Vietnam,Laos etc., representing their film in the Competition section.

Regular screenings for the Delegates will commence on February 27, 2020

The screenings will be held at 11 screens – PVR Cinemas – ORION MALL, Rajajinagar, and also at

Navarang Theatre, Dr. Rajkumar Road, Rajajinagar, KalavidaraSangha Dr. Raj Kumar auditorium at 

Chamarajpet and Suchitra Film Society auditorium at Banshankari II stage.

The Content of the Festival:  Nearly about200films – from  about 60Countries  -  under various categories

Highlights of the Festival Films:

1.Competition Sections : Asian Competition

Indian Competition

Kannada Competition/Kannada Popular Entertainment

Lists of films selected for the competitionsections will be notified on our official website biffes.in by February 15, 2020

2.Contemporary Cinema of world

3.Country Focus : Philippines, Germany and Australia

4.Retrospectives :Andrei Tarkovsky Legendary Director from Russia

  Mr. Anant Nag(India) Multi lingual Actor

5.Showcasing of films made in little known Indian dialects like Tulu, Banjara, Kodava, Konkani (Karnataka),Paniya, (Kerala),Irula (TN),  Khasi, Pangchenpa (Assam), etc.,under special section “Unsung Incredible India”

6.Celebrating 125 years of  birth of Cinema by revisiting some well known classics by Sergei Eisenstein, Russia, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, USA, Akira Kurasowa, Japan, Ingmar Bergmann, Sweden,  Vittorio De Sica, Italy,  Jean Luc Goddard, France and Satyajit Ray from India.

7.Thematically showcasing films under the “Indian Musical Tradition and Cinema” covering biographical films on Thyagaraja, Purandaradasa, Swati Tirunal, Tansen, BaijuBawra, Meera etc.,

Quite a good number of films in Asian Category and rest of the World  have reputation of having participated in other major international film festivals of Berlin, Cannes, Busan, Toronto, Goa, Mumbai, Kerala etc., and also Academy Oscar and Golden Globe Awards.

Films made by world renowned filmmakers such as  Ken Loach from UK,  Costa Gavras from Greece,  Roman Polanski from Poland, Roy Andersson from Sweden, Eli Suleiman from Israel/France, Dardenne Brothers from Belgium, Bong Joon-Ho from Korea, Pedro Almodavar from Spain, Takashi Miikei from Japan, Fernando Meirelles from Brazil,  Pedro Costa from Portugal, PemaTseden from Tibet, Terrence Malik from UK and others are being screened in the event.

BIFFES has two special sections: FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics)Film Critics Award Winners and NETPAC Award winners, which are always the unique features of our event. 

There will also be a special section on Biographical pictures  generally  referred to as “BIOPICS” which includes features/documentaries made on film makers, Writers, Artists , Musicians etc., The section this year includes films on legendary filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky from Russia, his film on Russian painter Andrei Rubleyev, Eminent Thinker &Musician Dr. Rajeev Taranath, Musician & Artist Helen Reddy, Celebrated Kannada Novelist S.L. Bhyrappa, Kannada poet, Novelist and PlaywrightChandrashekaraKambar and legendary Cinematographer & Dada SahebPhalke award Winner Mr. V.K. Murthyamongst others.

Foreign Consulates of Canada, Israel, Australia and Cultural organisations like Goethe Institute/Max Mueller Bhavan have extended their support to the event.

Details of films will be available at our official website  https://biffes.in/

Invited Delegates:

Invited delegates will include film makers, journalists, Film Critics,  Film festival Programmers, Academicians etc., from across the world. Large participation of  Foreign Consulate officials, Foreign cultural organization representatives  in India is also expected. 

Indian delegates include filmmakers, Film Festival organisers/Programmers, Journalists and critics from Bengal, Maharashra, Rajasthan, North East, Telengana, Delhi, Kerala and Tamilnadu.

Workshops, Seminars and Master Classes will also be held during the course of the Festival.

The scheduled programmes are:

1. Dadasaheb Award Winner Late V.K. Murthy memorial  lecture to be delivered by a renowned Cinematographerfrom  India.  

2. Two days Screen Writing Workshop by Ms. Claire Dobbin, Australian script Advisor/ Editor, 

3. KANFIDA,  Karnataka Film Director’s Association have come forward to partner BIFFes  in creating a Directors’ Film Bazaar wherein they have proposed to conduct various interactive sessions on the following subjects:

              a. Crafting a web series & building episodic drama.

b. Film producing – An entrepreneurial Approach.

c.  Filmmaker’s Legal Toolkit: from protecting IP through Negotiating Distribution & Piracy control

d.  Censor& Regional Emotions- Discussion with attorneys & lawmakers.

e.  Is Artificial Intelligence End of Independent Filmmaking.

 f. Green Filmmaking.

g. International coproductions- a success formula for Indie filmmakers.

4. Interactive sessions on Technology issues in cinema production/distribution in collaboration with a technology platform “Purple Arrow”

a.. Planning Computer Graphics for feature films - Visual Breakdown.

b. VFX - Making of Hollywood Blockbuster - "The Lion King".

 c.  Future of Digital Streaming - An OTT Perspective.

5. Changing landscapes of Bengaluru film theatres – An historical perspective by Suresh Moona, Bengaluru’s heritage man.

6. Interactive sessions with the celebrated Bollywood film makers who will be attending the Festival as guests.

7.“Gender Sensitivity” – An interactive session organized by  Hitaishini, group of Women writers and Journalists from Bengaluru.

8.Seminar on role of Film Critics in creating Festival Content,by FIPRESCI, a global collective of film critics. 

9. Special lecture on evolution of Cinema in 125 years

10. Open Forum organized by southern region of Federation of Film Societies in India.

All the above events are scheduled to be held at PVR cinemas Premises.

Delegate Registration:

Online Delegate registration has  commencedfrom February 5, 2020.

Registration is through Online only. The registration process has been entrusted to bookmyshow.com and the link is available through our official website biffes.in also.

The ID cards will be ready for distribution from February 22, 2019 at: Office of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy (BIFFes camp), Kannada ChalanachitraAmrutotsavaBhavan, Circular Road, Nandini Layout, Bengaluru-560096,  VarthaBhawana, Dept, of Information & Public Relations, Infantry Road Bengaluru-560001 and Suchitra Film Society Premises, 9th Main BSK II Stage, Bengaluru-560070.

Delegate fee:Rs. 800/- forGeneral  public, and Rs 400/- for Students, Film Society members, Senior citizens and film fraternity. 

For delegate registration help contact No. 02261445050, e-mail:support@bookmyshow.com