The fourth edition of the event, with four categories of awards in the competitive section, will feature 175 feature films of which 130 will be foreign films from 40 countries, 30 from Indian cinema and 15 from Kannada, Festival Director and Chairman, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, T S Nagabharana told reporters here today.
Awards in the four categories are: Golden Berunda for the Best Film (Rs 10 lakh) and Silver Berunda for Best Director (Rs 5 lakh) in world cinema; NETPAC Jury award (Rs 2 lakh) for the Best Film in Asian Cinema; Critics' award titled Suchitra Sanman for the Best Film (Rs 2 lakh) in Chitrabharati (Indian Cinema) and film societies' pick for the Best Film (Rs 2 lakh) in Kannada cinema, he said.
This year's focus will be on Polish cinema, Egyptian cinema, Asian cinema, Chitrabharati (contemporary Indian) and Kannada cinema (contemporary Kannada).
Retrospectives will comprise films of Michael Cacoyannis and Theo Angelopoulos of Greece; Hsiao-hsien Hou of Taiwan; Dariush Mehrjui of Iran, G Aravanidan from Malayalam cinema and Puttanna Kanagal from Kannada.
The festival also includes special sections of political cinema.
"The 175 films to be screened will be chosen from 350 entries. The last day for submission of Kannada films is November 20", Artistic Director H N Narahari said.
The festival is organised by Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, set up two years ago to promote cinema culture and education in the state, he said, adding, Rs three crore has been sanctioned by the government for the purpose.
Information and entry forms for the festival can be downloaded from wwwbiffes.in or can be collected from the Academy.