Date:11/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/11/stories/2006111116721800.htm

National

A feast of cinema for Kolkata

Antara Das

225 movies to be screened over the next eight days

COLOURFUL START: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lighting a lamp to inaugurate the 12th Kolkata Film Festival on Friday along with Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi (centre) and actor Soumitra Chatterjee (left). — Photo: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH

KOLKATA: With the inauguration of the 12th Kolkata Film Festival here on Friday, the city is warming up to enjoy and appreciate 225 movies from 53 countries over the next eight days.

Speaking at the inauguration, West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi said cinema was and would always remain the expression of the highest artistic sensibility. "Cinema is not just an image but a medium, whose multi-textured layers grip one and leave a lasting impression."

"Cities in India are known for their intricate relationship with cinema," he said, citing the example of Mumbai, where cinema had led to enterprise and wealth, and Chennai, where it meant popularity related to "tides and eddies" of political power.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the emphasis was on contemporary movies from around the world that were socially relevant and also aesthetically excellent. Over 2.2 million people were expected to enjoy the movies to be screened across nine auditoriums.

The festival was inaugurated with the screening of Adam's Apples, a 94-minute film directed by Andres Thomas Jensen of Denmark.