download

Movie buffs at the 7th Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), which begins on October 24, will be able to enjoy like Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa and Duvidha from Indian cinema which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. ‘Celebrating Indian Cinema’ is a select programme of some of the most admired films produced in a century of the US$2 billion industry,” read a statement on the ADFF official website.

Jahnu Barua’s Assamese film Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai, about a hardworking rice farmer’s life, is also a part of the special programme. A total of nine Indian films will find screen space at the fest.

The line up includes Punjabi movie Qissa which is set in post-colonial India in 1947 and narrates the story of a Sikh who is forced to flee his village due to ethnic cleansing. Starring Irrfan Khan, it will have its Middle East premiere.

There will also be Marathi film Fandry by Nagraj Manjule. The film zooms in on a story on India’s caste system.

Bengali filmmaker Aparna Sen’s Goynar Baksho, starring her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma, will have its Gulf premiere at ADFF, which will also screen Richie Mehta’s Siddharth about a poor Delhi street merchant desperately searching for his missing young son.

As many as 166 films will be showcased at the seventh edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) which will have Jennifer Aniston-starrer Life of Crime as its opening movie. The fest will also include a section to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema, it was announced. Life of Crime, directed by Daniel Schechter, will open the fest on October 24.

The complete line-up includes 92 features, 25 Arab and international shorts and 49 short films from the Emirates and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The movies have been brought from 51 countries and the fest will host 13 world premieres and nine international premieres.

The festival includes six competition categories – Narrative, Documentary, New Horizons, Our World, Short and Emirates Film Competitions, along with the non-competitive section, Showcase. Filmmakers participating in the competitions compete for the Black Pearl Awards.