'Film fest an opportunity to experience world cultures'

CHENNAI: The Grand Prix award winner at the 2015 Cannes festival, `Son of Saul', will be screened at the weeklong Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) to be held at five venues in the city.The holocaust drama by Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes will play at Inox (

Citi Centre

) on January 10.

Veteran Tamil film director Bharathiraja flagged off the 14th CIFF at

Sathyam Cinemas

on Thursday . The festival, which will go on to January 12, will feature 150 films from 52 countries. Launched in 2003, the festival began involving Tamil film industry personalities from 2010. Since 2011, the Tamil Nadu government has been awarding the organisers, the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation, Rs 50 lakh as its contribution for the event.

Said Bharathiraja, “The festival is an opportunity for us to observe cultures from around the world and also learn the craft of filmmak ing.“ Recalling his childhood in his village, Bharathiraja said, “After I watched 'Mother India' at a touring theatre, I could not sleep for two days. I wanted to watch it again but we had to wait for years until the film toured our village again.“

Bharathiraja, who debuted as director with `16 Vayathinile', said, “When I entered the film industry, it felt like heaven on earth. But I soon realised that films are a tool for social upliftment.“ CIFF will feature six films from Luxembourg, five from Brazil, 10 from Iran, five from France, seven from Germany and seven from

Poland

.

As a mark of respect to former chief minister Jayalalithaa, who passed away on December 5, 2016, the organisers said the fest will be a lowkey affair this year. `Aayirathil Oruvan' and `Suryagandhi', two of the most successful films starring the Jayalalithaa-M G Ramachandran pair will be screened.