Bengaluru International Film Festival to be held from March 23: Details | Azad Times

The 14th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival will be held from March 23 to 30 this year. The festival will be inaugurated on the steps of Vidhana Soudha by Revenue Minister R Ashoka and veteran Bollywood actor Rekha. While the festival was supposed to be held in the month of February, it has been postponed to March. The festival is expected to screen 300 films from around 55 countries. According to the Times of India, Rs 4.4 crore has been sanctioned by the government for the seven-day event. 

Addressing the media on Wednesday, February 8, the Revenue Minister said that the festival will be held in Orion Mall at Rajaji Nagar and the films will be played on eleven screens. Ashok further said that they have appealed to the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to ensure all the artists in the Kannada film industry participate in the festival. 

ToI reported that films in the festival will compete in categories like Asian, world cinema, Indian, and Kannada. Meanwhile, retrospective films will be categorised under world, Kannada and Indian cinema. The festival aims to revisit classic films in all categories and screen popular Kannada movies. 

According to ToI, Ashoka told the organisers to take meticulous steps to select the juries for the festival to avoid any controversy. He also suggested increasing the prize money for winners from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh this year.