IFFI 52 closes, raising a toast to the never-ending celebration and ardent love for films
SGT Times Reporter
It is often said that all good things should come to an end; well, not for film festivals, definitely not for the International Film Festival of India, known fondly among film lovers and connoisseurs as IFFI. Yes, as the metaphorical curtains come down on the 52nd edition of Asia’s oldest and largest film festival, the quintessential IFFI delegate will continue to carry within his or her bosom the flames of cinematic inspiration and boundless fascination for great film art. Flames which have been rekindled and given a new lease of life, thanks to the delectable kaleidoscope of artistic excellence, expertly curated and drawn eclectically from the latest and best of Indian and world cinema, and offered to IFFI delegates both on and off the screen, during the nine-day film festival, held in Goa in a hybrid format, during November 20 – 28.
Yes, a true film lover can and will never have enough of the celebration of films; owing to him and her and to the evangelizing influence of passionate admirers of the art and science of filmmaking, film festivals such as IFFI will live on even as they close officially, their electrifying spirit reverberating in the minds and illuminating the hearts of the people who have been fortunate to have had even as much as a brush with the celebration.
It is with this spirit of continuity and the quest for scaling new heights of excellence that the 52nd edition of IFFI came to a glittering close, at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, in Goa today, November 28, 2021. The customarily glittering cultural performances and artistic extravaganzas apart, the highlight of the closing ceremony has of course been the wholesome recognition and celebration of great films and the people who create them, an enduring commitment the unalloyed furtherance of which is what lends IFFI its distinctive identity and imbues its organizers and other stakeholders contributing to it to strive tirelessly, stretching the festival’s arms closer and closer towards perfection, with each and every edition.