Revered filmmaker and International Film Festival of India (IFFI) festival director Shekhar Kapur is steering the Goa-based event toward a future emphasizing technological innovation, audience engagement and international co-production opportunities as it enters its 56th edition.
In an interview, Kapur outlines three key priorities reshaping India’s flagship film festival: integrating artificial intelligence and emerging technologies into the festival infrastructure, transforming the WAVES Film Bazaar into a major international marketplace, and positioning IFFI as an audience-focused celebration rather than solely an industry event.
“We’ve got an AI hackathon festival as part of the WAVES Film Bazaar,” Kapur says, describing partnerships with Larsen & Toubro and Google to incorporate technology demonstrations throughout the event. “AI is becoming such a big controversy all over the world, but it’s so democratic. It’s a completely democratic medium. It’s trying to give more people more tools.”
The festival director highlights India’s enhanced production incentive program, which has increased from 30% to 40% cash rebates for international productions filming in the country. He cites the British-Indian production “Santosh,” which competed for an Oscar nomination as the U.K.’s official submission, as an example of the program’s effectiveness.
“The producer of ‘Santosh’ actually got his 30% back, and he said it was the easiest deal he’s ever made,” Kapur says, noting the growing number of Indian filmmakers based overseas who are utilizing the incentives to produce projects in India.
The WAVES Film Bazaar, IFFI’s co-production market and financing platform, has become central to Kapur’s strategy for attracting international participants. The event serves as a venue where filmmakers can pitch projects and connect with potential collaborators and financiers.
“We’re hoping to attract a lot more people to the WAVES Film Bazaar,” Kapur explains. “The interaction between filmmakers of Indian origin or Asian origin coming to make films in India” represents a key growth area for the festival.
In a departure from traditional film festival protocol, Kapur has introduced a Goa carnival-style opening ceremony designed to engage local audiences and residents. The move reflects his broader ambition to make IFFI more accessible to the general public rather than limiting it to industry professionals.
“The International Film Festival of India is the only film festival in the world that is called Indian Film Festival,” he says, contrasting it with city-named festivals like Venice, Toronto and Tokyo. “The fact is that they actually do belong to the city, and there are lots of either private funding or funding from the city itself, because the city grows along with the festival.”
The festival currently attracts approximately 20,000 attendees, with Kapur projecting that number will reach 50,000 by next year — a figure that includes general audiences rather than just industry delegates.
Regarding programming, Kapur emphasizes that this year’s edition features what he considers the strongest lineup in recent years, with 10 films from the festival having been submitted as Oscar entries from various countries.
“This is probably the best lineup of international films,” he says. “We’ve tried very hard to bring the best of world cinema to the audiences.”
Kapur acknowledges that IFFI faces challenges in attracting high-profile titles to its competition sections, as films selected for competition at established festivals like Cannes generate significant market attention and acquisition interest. However, he expresses confidence in the festival’s alternative strengths, particularly its growing WAVES Film Bazaar and production incentive initiatives.
The director has committed to serving a two-year term in the festival director role, which has required him to pause his filmmaking career during this period. The 55th International Film Festival of India runs Nov. 20-28 in Goa. WAVES Film Bazaar runs Nov. 20-24.
variety.com
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