All you need to know about KIFF inauguration

As expected, the 25th Kolkata International Film Festival will have a star-studded inaugural ceremony. While the names have not been announced yet, a bevy of stars will attend the ceremony. As has been the ritual over the past few years, the festival will be inaugurated by megastar Amitabh Bachchan at Netaji Indoor Stadium on November 8. Shah Rukh Khan will be the special guest. The other distinguished guests at the ceremony will be Jaya Bachchan, Rakhee Gulzar, Mahesh Bhatt and Kumar Shahani.
The inaugural ceremony will also be graced by international film personalities like German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff, Sex Lies and Videotape actress Andie MacDowell and Slovak film director Dušan Hanák. Schlöndorff won an Oscar as well as the Palme d’or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival for The Tin Drum (1979). It was a screen adaptation of Günter Grass’s novel by the same name. Hanák is known for his feature-length documentary, Pictures of the Old World, and films like Rosy Dreams, I love, You Love, among others. Apart from attending the inaugural ceremony, Andie is expected to hold a masterclass and even talk about film preservation at the festival. CM Mamata Banerjee will preside over the ceremony.
Since the idea of the festival is to showcase Bengal to the world, there will be a dance recital by Tanusree Shankar. Titled Ananda-Utsav, it will formally throw the festival open. The inaugural film this year is Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. The film completes its 50th year and the festival authorities decided to screen it to the movie lovers who will converge on the city for its annual carnival. Srabanti will be the thali girl this year.