Pawlikowski's Fatherland Opens the 57th International Film Festival of India in Goa

Pawel Pawlikowski's Fatherland will open the 57th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on 20 November, according to Variety. The film won the best director prize at Cannes. The festival runs until 28 November.

Organisers received more than 1,900 submissions from 137 countries. The final lineup spans more than 150 international films from 86 countries. This year's theme is "Stories Without Borders."

The festival opens its Indian programme with two big titles. Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar will open the Indian Panorama strand, which showcases new Indian cinema. Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana: Rise of a Legend will open the BRICS showcase, a section for films from the bloc of countries that includes Brazil, Russia, India and China. In all, 76 Indian films will screen in 18 languages. Leena Yadav's Becoming, a Ladakhi-language film, will open the non-feature strand, which covers short films and documentaries.

Spain is the country of honour, with four films in the programme. They include Pedro Almodóvar's Bitter Christmas. Japan has a strong showing in the Cinema of the World section. Hirokazu Kore-eda's Look Back and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's The Samurai and the Prisoner are both listed there. Brad Bird's animated film Ray Gunn appears in the Animation section.

Alina Serban's I Matter will screen as the mid-festival film. Anthony Chen's We Are All Strangers will close the festival.

Aanand L. Rai will chair the international competition jury. Madhur Bhandarkar chairs the feature film jury.

For anyone planning a week in Goa, the spread is wide. Festival selections like these matter beyond the screenings themselves. Sales agents and buyers attend festivals like this one to look for films that may reach cinemas and streaming services in the months ahead.

Tickets and full screening times are published by the festival itself, so check its schedule before you travel.