Pune International Film Festival postponed to a later date

The Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) has been postponed to a later date, said organisers on Saturday.

As the 51st edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will kick-start in Goa from January 16 to 24 so PIFF has been postponed.

IFFI, the official film festival of India, was scheduled to be held in Goa from November 20-28 last year.

Dr Jabbar Patel, director, PIFF, said, “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic schedules of most of the film festivals have been postponed. We will soon be calling for a government council meeting and the dates will be decided.”

Earlier, the organisers of PIFF had announced on their web page and through social media to hold the 19th edition of PIFF between January 14 to 21.

“We had planned to organise the festival from January 14, but now with IFFI schedule, we will have to look at different dates. We are in the process of getting the films for competition and a good number of Marathi films have arrived at our offices as an entry for the prestigious Marathi film competition during PIFF,” said Aditi Akkalkotkar, deputy director- coordination and communication, PIFF.

The week-long film festival that brings international cinema to the city, is usually held during the second week to January every year.

Like IFFI, which the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has announced is to be held as a hybrid festival with screenings of films taking place virtually and some physically, PIFF too intends to hold it similarly.

“It has become the norm for international film festivals to be held in such a hybrid way and we are ready for this platform too,” said Patel.