‘No better way to start G20 film festival than Pather Panchali’

The first G20 film festival, presented by the Ministry of External Affairs and India International Centre (IIC), kicked off in the capital on Wednesday with the screening of the 1955 Indian classic – Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali. The 17-day festival will be ongoing till September 3 and apart from Pather Panchali, has a line-up of 15 award-winning films including My Night from France, Decision To Leave from South Korea, The Cathedral from the US.The festival will come to a close on September 3 with UK’s Footprints On Water, starring Adil Hussain and directed by Nathalia Syam.
‘Opportunity for cine lovers to watch world’s greatest cinema'
The G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant began his inaugural address by saying that he was delighted to see a packed hall. “Tourism and culture are two very integral components of G20. I have been a great believer of the power of Indian films. Indian cinema reflects the great soft power of our country. This is a unique initiative to give opportunity to cinema lovers to watch great cinema, some great films, by the finest of directors from different nations,” he said.

“Cinema is a major player and India is one of the biggest filmmaking nations and so the best of films will be screened at the festival. All these films are a reflection of India’s G20 theme Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One Earth, One Family, One Future),” he added. "Indian cinema has all regional cinema in its fold, not just Hindi cinema. I have watched Pather Panchali three times and I wanted to watch it again today. It is the movie that took Indian cinema to its greatest heights," he said.

Shyam Saran, President of India International Centre, said, “There couldn’t have been a better way to begin the festival. It had to be Ray’s deeply moving film Pather Panchali, depicting the rural life, along with Ravi Shankar’s music.” KN Shrivastava, Director, IIC, said, "IIC is privileged to host the G20 film festival. Film is an important medium to connect people of different countries and promoting amity."