The 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will showcase a hand-picked selection of Five International and Two Indian Films which will compete for the Best Debut Feature Film of a Director award, recognizing and celebrating the extraordinary work of first-time filmmakers from around the world. The winner will receive the coveted Silver Peacock, a cash prize of Rupees 10 lakh and a Commendation.
An eminent jury composed of cinema stalwarts namely, Indian filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, who is the Chairperson, Singaporean director and screenwriter Anthony Chen, American-British film producer Elizabeth Karlsen, Spanish producer Fran Borgia and Australian editor Jill Bilcock will together decide upon the winner.
Like every year, this year’s selection too, exhibits outstanding work by first-time filmmakers and exemplifieswhat the next generation of filmmakers are envisioning onscreen.
Here’s the list of films that has made it to the selection list:
• Betânia
Director: Marcelo Botta
It is Brazilian filmmaker and storyteller Marcelo Botta’s debut feature. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival 2024.
The film weaves an ode to Brazil’s ancestral heritage with the documentation of complex themes of ecology, community-living and queerness. The film is inspired by the life of community leader Maria do Celso, who fought for decades to bring energy to her isolated village nested in the dunes.
• Bound in Heaven
Director: Huo Xin
This is renowned Chinese screenwriter Huo Xin’s directorial debut. The film won the Jury Prize – Best Cinematography, FIPRESCI Prize at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024.
It is a genre-infused romance-crime drama about violence, mortality and kinship. The film is about a woman trapped by violence, a man with a terminal illness, two lonely souls tightly intertwined after a chance encounter.
• Bring Them Down
Director: Christopher Andrews
UK-based screenwriter and filmmaker Christopher Andrews’ feature debut is a thriller-drama set in rural Ireland. The film, starring Barry Keoghan, Christopher Abbott, Paul Ready and Colm Meaney, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film revolves around an Irish shepherding family thrust into battle on several fronts like internal strife, hostility within the family, rivalry with another farmer. In the process, it highlights paternalism, heritage and the generational trauma cycle through the cultural prism of Ireland.
• Familiar Touch
Director: Sarah Friedland
American filmmaker, screenwriter, and choreographer Sarah Friedland’s directorial debut won a number of awards at the Venice International Film Festival including the Luigi De Laurentiis Award: Best Debut Film, Venice Horizons Award: Best Actress and the Venice Horizons Award: Best Director.
Familiar Touch is a coming of (old) age film. It follows an octogenarian woman’s transition to life in assisted living as she contends with her conflicting relationship to herself and her caregivers amidst her shifting memory, age identity, and desires.
• To A Land Unknown
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
It is the feature debut of filmmaker and visual artist Mahdi Fleifel which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. Mhadi Fleifel is known for examining the themes of social justice and refugees in his work.
It is an urgent, topical thriller-drama about two displaced, refugee cousins desperately seeking a better life.
• Gypsy
Director: Shashi Chandrakant Khandare
Marathi filmmaker Shashi Chandrakant Khandare’s debut feature film.
A poignant drama which examines the themes of displacement, scarcity and hunger. A nomadic family spends its days drifting. The pregnant mother struggles to rest, though she has to roam continuously. Having to eat bad, stale food after begging every day, the little boy ‘Jotya’ becomes enchanted by the smell of fresh-hot food. The story takes a turn when it is the allurement of the same substance smell that presents the opportunity to change his life.
• 35 CHINNA KATHA KAADU
Director: Emani V S Nanda Kishore
Telugu fiction writer and filmmaker Emani V S Nanda Kishore’s feature debut.
The film is set in a modest home near the Tirupathi temple, where 28-year-old homemaker Saraswathi and her husband Prasad, a bus conductor, live with their two sons. At 16, Saraswathi chose marriage over education out of love for Prasad. Her lack of formal schooling becomes a challenge when her son Arun (10) struggles with math. Determined to help her son, Saraswathi begins learning math herself. Their journey underscores the power of perseverance, family support and community intervention in overcoming adversity.
With fresh voices, new perspectives and a bold vision, these debutant Directors bring, specially for IFFI Delegates, stories that need to be told and heard. A showcase of emerging talent at the 55th International Film Festival of India awaits you.
