The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year will focus on films from the northeastern states and a special section will feature films with the flavors of Goa.

“There will be a special focus on films produced in all the eight northeastern states for IFFI 2013,” said film festival director Shankar Mohan after attending the steering committee meeting.

Officials from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Goa government, including Chief Secretary B. Vijayan and Entertainment Society of Goa’s Chairman Vishnu Wagh, were present during the meeting that was held to discuss the preparations for IFFI 2013.

The organizers have also decided to showcase Konkani films, or the ones which have contributions from Goans, during the festival. The history of Konkani cinema, right from the 1960s till date, would be displayed during the festival for the delegates who are unaware of the rich film tradition that the coastal state has, Wagh said.

IFFI 2013 will also have strong participation from foreign films, and over 800 movies produced across more than 70 countries are set to be showcased. Mohan said the country focus for this year would be Japan, Italy or the African continent.

“We may have one or two countries as a focus this time,” he added.

The 44th International Film Festival of India will be held in Goa from 20th to 30th November 2013.