City's first filmy affair

The capital is set host the first edition of the Delhi International Film Festival (DIFF), which began on Friday and is on till Dec 27. The festival will be showcasing about 174 films from nearly 32 countries.

Says Ram Kishore Parcha, president, DIFF, "Filmmakers across the world, are eager and enthusiastic to arrive in Delhi and interact with their Indian counterparts during the weeklong festival."

With different sections in the festival like the "Delhi Scope" , "World Cinema", "NRI Cinema" to name a few, the festival will explore a variety of world and Indian cinema with a significant number of artists and filmmakers attending.

Said actress Sharmila Tagore, "The festival will serve as a memorable gift to Delhi at an occasion which marks the centenary of Delhi as well as the Indian Cinema. I'm delighted that the festival is concentrating on giving an ideal platform to filmmakers from SAARC countries."

Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia, who has been roped in for the festival, will be conducting one of the three workshops. Madhur Bhandarkar and Sriram Raghavan are the special guests at DIFF.

Enthrallingly, the festival will be commemorating 100 years of Indian cinema along with presenting centenarian stage actor Zohra Sehgal, who catapulted into limelight by doing theatre for noted film-maker and actor Prithviraj Kapoor, with the Minare Dilli award.

While Polish film 80 Million will be the opening film, Pakistani production Lamha will be screened as the closing film.

Mohammad Rafi Memorial Night, launch of books on films and seminars are other features of the festival.