Istvan Szabo, Martin Scorsese to be honoured with Satyajit Ray Lifetime Award at 52nd IFFI

In a major announcement by the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Anurag Thakur on Thursday said that eminent film directors Martin Scorsese and István Szabó will be honoured with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award at the 52nd Indian International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The directors will be conferred for their immense contributions to world cinema, ANI reported. The 52nd edition of the film festival will be held from November 20 to 28 in Goa.

Decorated Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó is known for his international success with Mephisto (1981), which won Oscar for best foreign-language film. Szabó is a film and opera director, a screenwriter who debut as a feature film director with The Age of Illusions in 1964. His film Father (1996) won the Grand Prix at the 5th Moscow International Film Festival. He has several accolades under her belt as his films tell a unique story emphasising "iconography."

American film producer, director, screenwriter and actor Martin Scorsese is one of the notable personalities in Hollywood. He is best known for a plethora of excellent features like Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Good Fellas, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman. As per Studiobinder, Scorcese's work is a blend of a diegetic and non-diegetic sound realistic approach to plot and characters.

"India is a land of storytellers our talents have captured the imagination of the world. India's wide variety of stories rightly make us the content subcontinent," Thakur said while speaking to ANI.

OTT streamers to take part in the 52nd IFFI

For the first time ever, the Indian International Film Festival has invited major Over The Top (OTT) platforms to participate in the festival, Thakur said while speaking to ANI. Amazon Prime, Netflix, Zee5, SonyLiv, and Voot are a step forward in the cinematic viewing experience and IFFI is "embracing new technology and providing a platform for the industry artists to interact with the OTT players," the Union minister added. Additionally, films from five BRICS nations, i.e. Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China and India will be played at the 52nd IFFI. Actors like Dilip Kumar, Sumitra Bhave, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Sanchari Vijay, Surekha Sikri, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bertrand Tavenier, Christopher Plummer and Jean-Claude Carriere will also be paid tribute at the event.

"The festival will pay a special tribute to Sir Sean Connery, the first actor to Putra fictional British secret agent James Bond on the screen," the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement.

The platform will pay tribute to young talents across India. Around 30 films will be showcased at the 52nd IFFI from the prominent International Film Festival in the Festival Kaleidoscope and World Panorama Section.

With inputs from ANI

Image: PTI/AP/ANI