Overview
The fourth edition of Nitte International Film Festival (NIFF) was held from 8th to 11th June 2023 at Bharath Cinemas, Bharath Mall, Mangalore. The festival began on Thursday, June 8 at 10.00 a.m. with the inauguration by Premendra Mazumdar, Vice President, Federation of Film Societies of India, General Secretary, FIPRESCI - India. The opening film was the Kannada film Hadinelentu, by award winning film maker, Prithvi Konnanur. Over a 100 films in various languages were screened. The line-up for this year included Kantara (Kannada), Family (Malayalam), Koramma (Tulu), Ek Jagah Apni (Hindi), Valvi (Marathi), Anunad (Assamese). Gandhi & Co (Gujarati), Dhuin (Mythili), Tortoise Under the Earth (Santhali). The festival’s closing film was Tora’s Husband (Assamese), by Rima Das.
The country of focus this year being Germany. NIFF in collaboration with Goethe Institute and the German Embassy, Bangalore screened 13 films from Germany, including Generation Incompatible, Zuhur’s Daughters, Exil, New Building and Dear Future Children. Apart from these, films from Persia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore, France and Senegal were also screened. A representative from the German embassy was present at the venue for three days, interacting with film lovers and also a couple who teach German in Mangalore.
A Retrospective of Osmane Sembene, Senegalese filmmaker and author, also considered the Father of African Films was held to mark his 100th birth anniversary. The restored version of Sembene’s Black Girl (1963) and Mandabi (1962) and a documentary on Sembene by Samba Gadjago, were screened.
NIFF also paid homage to veteran actor Irrfan Khan by screening his last film Song of Scorpions.
Guest List
| Manish Saini | Shivadwaj Shetty | Shishir Jha | Rahul PK | Mansore |
| Jeo Baby | Champa Shetty | Bharat Mirle | Saurabh Kanti Dutta | Amartya Bhattacharya |
| Umesh Badiger |
Panel Discussions
Photo Exhibition - Snapshots from Sandalwood’s History: As seen by Photojournalist, Ashwath Narayana – a photo exhibition of rare and unpublished photographs cataloguing 60 years of Kannada cinema was also inaugurated on Day 1. The exhibition is an interesting and nostalgic collection of working stills, publicity stills, portraits of actors, technicians and significant events related to Kannada cinema. A few stills of legends of the Hindi film industry were also on display.
Film and photography enthusiasts met and interacted with the photographer at the venue.
The festival also hosted film personalities such as Manish Saini, Shivadwaj Shetty, Shishir Jha, Rahul PK, Mansore, Jeo Baby, Champa Shetty, Bharat Mirle, Saurabh Kanti Dutta, Amartya Bhattacharya, Umesh Badiger among others. There was an interactive session with each filmmaker after the screening of their film. /
For the first time, a Short Film Section with about 8 short films in different languages, was screened. NICO alumnus Sathwik Shetty also screened his film, Ammi.
Apart from award winning films, the festival also had 5 Masterclasses which were free for the public
The Art of Film Reviewing, by national award-winning film critic Namrata Joshi The art and craft of Art Direction by national award-winning Art Director, Cinematographer, Shashidhar Adappa The Art of Story Telling by Author, Poet, Lyricist, Jayanth Kaikini Film Direction - by National award-winning filmmaker Mikhil Musale Short Filmmaking - by multiple award-winning filmmaker Ganesh B Shetty
The four-day event which saw film lovers from all over Mangalore make their way to Bharat Cinemas, ended with the screening of the Assamese film Tora’s Husband, written and directed by Rima Das. A four-page Gazette, titled NIFF Gazette, with recorded the happenings of the festival was brought out on Day 2 and Day 4 of the festival. Screenings, interactive sessions, insightful masterclasses, Q&A with the public of Mangalore, and a general air of camaraderie marked the four-day event.
