Shabana Azmi conferred Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) 2025. When captivating cinemas of the world held cinephiles in a thrall. Other highlights of the festival: 37 films by women directors, retrospectives of Polish filmmaker Krysztof Kieslowski & German Wim Wenders, and a day long academic session on AI and its impact on various aspects of filmmaking covering a gamut of themes.
Cinema’s strength lies in its ability to capture and express the thoughts and feelings of the human mind
-Satyajit Ray
Controversies, compromises and perennial uncertainties, hanging like Damocles Sword notwithstanding, the 16th edition of the flagship Bengaluru International Film Festival – BIFFes 2025 – faithfully kept its date with the calendar cinema carnival. As ever, BIFFes, whose tagline reads “The World in Bengaluru” saw committed cinephiles and cine buffs, drawn from every possible nook and niche, enthusiastically attending the gala week-long film festival in full force.
True to the festival’s stated theme – ‘Sarva Janangada Shantiya Tota’ (The Peace Garden of Humanity) saw an array of curated shorts and features bringing to sharp focus this aspect. BIFFes, through empowering and engaging power of films, lived up to this ubiquitous vision not only in terms of cinemas featured but also cineastes who came from near and far to attend the fantabulous cultural congregation.
Delhi domiciled avid film festival frequenter Ajai Jaisinghani, a regular attendee at BIFFes, termed it good and well curated with all screenings in one place. With twin screenings of each film, Ajai, who felt BIFFes served its purpose, observed that more good films could have been chosen but limitations of time rather hampered this luxury. Otherwise, one had enough films to choose from, he added.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, instrumental in suggesting special theme title (drawn from State’s Anthem) was right noting that international film festivals were a reflection of global culture and be leveraged to create meaningful and impactful cinema.
This has been the larger objective of film festivals the world over. BIFFes with its carefully curated sections through tableau of multifarious thematic concerns satiated the picky palates of diehard cine aficionados
Exhorting film industry to actively address societal issues, foster unity and promote progressive ideals through films, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah remarked “with growing income inequality, there is growing social unrest and dissatisfaction,” and that was reason the State government chose the humanistic theme for this year’s festival.
Bemoaning that such values are often missing in contemporary cinema, he hoped the film industry moved towards greater humaneness and inclusivity in its storytelling, cautioning that films should be a tool for enlightenment and progress, not regression propagating superstitions and anti-Constitutional values.
As with every year, this time too saw, the young, the old, men and women, students and practitioners, jostling to catch cinemas of their choice with handy catalogue and daily festival schedule in their hands. With over 4,500 plus registered delegates, PVR Cinemas at City’s Orion Mall was beehive of activity with virtual sea of eager-bear crowd united in their love for films captivating them with variegated narratives they unfolded on 11 screens during the week-long cine rendezvous.
The prickly heat of summer. The pangs of hunger. The plentifulness of preferences propelling them in their quest to catch crème la crème of contemporary cinemas as they kept their annual date with a la affair with BIFFes.
Echoing Ajai, committed cine buff from Goa, Balasubramaniam, who like, Ajai, travels to Pune, Chennai, as well, was enthusiastic about the “wonderful line up. The whole week is for BIFFes. I will try to attend (screenings) as many as I can.”
The author, at BIFFes 2025
As if reflecting this very aspect of milling film crazy crowds you had BIFFes-2025 Brand Ambassador & Actor Kishore Kumar G making a clarion call to the State government to offer film appreciation courses at school levels onwards to inculcate better understanding and appreciation of films as art form. “We need to seriously engage with cinema, as pro-people art form,” the versatile actor who has straddled across various language films opined.
A not so impressive Hindi film Pyre revolving around an aged couple in the Himalayas fight the prospects of being left to fend for themselves with mass migration to cities, awaiting the return of their son by young Vinod Kapri kicked off the festivities.
Kapri’s film was reminiscent of 2018 Bulgarian film Aga by Milko Lazarov about an elderly reindeer hunter and his wife living in desolate icy north. Sensing death, the wife longs to talk about their daughter who left home to work in a faraway diamond mine, but hubby refuses. The Bulgarian film was far superior.
The Spanish film Little Loves aka Los Pequenos Amores by the “rising talented woman director of Spanish cinema” as Variety describes her – Celia Rico Clavellino, which brought the curtains down and all the hubbub to a happy hush more than made up with her scintillating drama about a mother and daughter navigating through their respective bittersweet pangs and pains of love and loneliness.
The film festival, as has been the practice saw nearly 80 plus films being featured in the Contemporary World Cinema section from as many nations, any fest’s mainstay and crowd puller, lived true to its billing featuring quite an handful of films that coveted the cineastes who called for an encore screenings of several of them.
But Mohan Ram, a Bengaluru housed cinephile, begged to differ. He says I am still miffed at the terrible scheduling. As I had planned on going only for the first 3 shows, I probably missed the better movies of the fest. The last day was really terrible. It was a very mediocre festival fare for me.
However, among the lot that caught the discerning eyes of audiences were the Algerian film Algiers by Chakib Taleb-Beniadb a nuanced police procedural mystery thriller, Hong Kong film All Shall Be Well by Ray Yeung about a middle aged lesbian couple survivor battling for dignity and survival from her deceased companion’s kin, the Greek film Arcadia by Yorgos Zois, the delectable Norwegian school campus flick Armand by Halfdan Ullmann Tondel where parents and school staff fight over what’s good for the wards, dystopian Chinese fare and Cannes winner Black Dog by Guan Hu that charts the course of a country’s downhill and mass migration as the nation prepares for hosting the Beijing Olympics.
The other Chinese fare was Brief History of a Family by Jianjie Lin that charts the class and social divide through the eyes of two boys from different strata who becomes friends, another from the Communist nation begin Caught by the Tides by the famous director Jia Zhang -Ke which tracks the tumultuous change that the country undergoes over a period of two decades through the eyes of a cupid couple, the Indonesian Crocodile Tears by Tumpal Tampubolon about an overpowering mother and a son who seeks freedom for her Octopian clutches, Sarah Friedland’s US film Familiar Touch about an octogenarian reconciling to the prospects of old age home living and its care givers, the other US film being the coming-of-age Good One about a young woman on the cusp of adulthood navigating the dueling and differentiated worlds of two men on a trekking rip – her father and his friend.
The ever impressive fare from Iran – Me, Maryam, the Children & 26 Others by Farshad Hashemi with its delectable of a woman in her 30s confronting the passage of her life when she invites a filming crew to use her homestead which upends her solitary and tranquil existence. Other impressive tableau of films included Canada’s Measures for a Funeral, Costa Rica’s Memories of a Burning Body, Austria’s Moon (Mond), the plucky and pleasurable Turkish delight One of those when Hemme dies, the Grecian immigration imbroglio Quiet Life, the Tunisian gut-wrencher Red Path, Ireland’s September Says, France’s Shepherds, Austrian docu-feature Sleeping with a Tiger, Bolivian The Dog Thief, Spain’s The Exiles, Danish real life inspired flick The Girl With The Needle, festivals’ favourite Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door, Iran’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Somalia’s The Village Next to Paradise, Romanian Three Kilometres to the End of the World, Palestine’s To A Land Unknown, Czech Republic’s Waves and Belgium’s Young Hearts.
While the Country Focus spotlighted on Brazil and Georgia with couple of films like Cidade; Campo (City & Countryside), Malu, Manas, April, Holy Electricity, Crossing and Panopticon, the Asian competition section and Critics’ Week sections had a handful in I, The Song from Bhutan, Iran’s In The Land of Brothers and My Favourite Cake, Israel’s Reading Lolita In Tehran, South Korean When This Summer Is Over, Romania’s The New Year That Never Came, France’s The Story of Souleymane, while among biopics you had Spain’s I Am Nevenka and Somalia’s Samia.
The staple Indian contingent coming up with its own retinue of fares – the good, the bad and the ugly, notwithstanding the eventual competition winners included. Somewhat impressive and engaging lot were Aranya Sahay’s Humans In The Loop which won the coveted Best Indian Film Award, C Premkumar’s Tamil delectable bromance Meiyazhagan, Manohara K’s Best Kannada Film Award winner Mikka Bannada Hakki.
Incidentally, BIFFes featured as many as 37 films, by women directors, comprising nearly 40% of films featured at the showpiece spectacle reflecting global initiative to ensure fairness and quantum of representation for films by women, and also of and on women are strictly adhered to.
These 37 films come from as many as 25 film making nations that have etched their niche in the film festival marquee. That a handful of them are debutant directorial attempts full of promise and pluck, besides few sophomore sojourns, makes visitation of these films an engaging enterprise.
Countries Bhutan to Costa Rica to Afghanistan to Estonia to Somalia to Tunisia to Mongolia. Others include Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the US and Uruguay find representation.
The 16th Edition, after seven days of celebrations, culminated by bestowing Lifetime Achievement Award on renowned actress Shabana Azmi. The award was conferred on Shabana Azmi by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his Home Office – Cauvery – when the actress called on him along with eminent lyricist, script writer and husband Javed Akthar.
Conferring the award Chief Minister Siddaramaiah fondly reminisced Shabana Azmi’s role in the iconic video song ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’, while effusive in his appreciation of her indelible impact on Indian cinema and culture.
Shabana Azmi established herself as distinguished artist in South Indian films as well as Hindi cinema he extolled, stating this honour, awarded in recognition of her nearly 50 years of contribution to the art of cinema, adds to the prestige of the award itself.
Shabana Azmi, who recently completed 50 years in the film industry, and has been the face of the “other” or “off-beat” cinemas of India, was picked for the award which befittingly fell on International Women’s Day. The Award, besides the citation, carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. The citation extolled the sterling actress appreciating her “for illuminating the screen with performances of rare depth and authenticity, for fearlessly embracing roles that challenge conventions, for the portrayals of complex, defiant women and for being an unwavering voice in gender discourse. This award is given in honor of the unparalleled contributions to cinema and the tireless advocacy for equality, justice, and human dignity.”
Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad, himself owner of several small theatres and film distributor, who gave away the awards, championing the cause of providing and protecting the single screen theatres across the State, stressed the need for more content-oriented, aesthetic and thematic films which could be screened in these theatres.
In sum, BIFFes, despite the hiccups, hitches and HC hearings and the like, did not lose its momentum nor its billing as a must visit film festival in the Indian calendar of cinephiles itinerary.
BIFFes 2025
