The Indian Panorama 2015 gets under way here on October 16 with the screening of a choice selection of regional language films.

Chief Minister N. Rangasamy is scheduled to launch the film festival at Big Cinema (Rukmani Theatre).

He will also present the Sri Sankaradass Swamigal Best Film Award to Bramma G., director of the national award-winning Kuttram Kadithal during the festival (October 16-20).

For the last 20 years, the Best Film Award, which includes a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh and a silver memento to the director, has been a festival tradition, from Parinayam (Hariharan) in 1995 to Thanga Meengal (Ram) in 2014.

In the years in between, films by several noted directors of the likes of Bharathiraja, Mani Ratnam, Priyadarshan, Cheran and Shyama Prasad have bagged the prestigious award.

The Indian Panorama 2015 is a collaborative effort of the Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Puducherry, Navadarshan Film Society and Alliance Francoise.

Uninterrupted for the last 32 years, the festival has focused on projecting myriad aspects of cultural unity in diversity through screening of films of varied languages.

Kuttram Kadithal will also open the screenings on October 16.

This will be followed by screenings on successive days of Bodhon (Bengali), Munnariyippu(Malayalam), 1 December (Kannada) and Ankhon Dekhi (Hindi).

The Directorate of Film Festivals functioning under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi, will select the films for Indian Panorama.

Every year, such selected films are screened in the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India, which will be reviewed by National and International film critics and journalists.

These films are made available to film festivals conducted in various countries across the globe and also to the film festivals conducted within India. Hence, some of the selected films are arranged to be screened in Indian Panorama, in Puducherry, for public free of cost.

According an official release, the film festival conducted in Pondicherry is a unique event of its kind in South India.

The best of these films screened here, is selected for the Best Film Award given in the name of Sri Sankaradass Swamigal, since 1995.