Anil Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap inaugurate 1st edition of French Film Festival in Kolkata

The festival, which will run for nine days, is held by Alliance Francaise Du Bengale and West Bengal Film Centre Nandan.

Speaking at the inauguration, Anil Kapoor said, "I am honoured to be a part of this extraordinary collaboration between France and West Bengal. Both of these places have given birth to some of the cinema's most iconic legends. I have seen several Bengali and French films.

"We get to see the classic films of France and Bengal in tandem here. Over the next few days, I am sure the audience will garner newer sides from their work as they are placed together like never before."

This is Kapoor's second visit to Kolkata in recent times.

The 'Animal' actor also inaugurated the 29th Kolkata International Festival Festival (KIFF) in December 2023.

Kashyap, who joined Kapoor at the inauguration, shared, "It's a very good thing to have a film festival like this as people would get to watch films from France. French films have remained a big influence in my life."

"I have seen more French films like Hindi films (laughs)," the 'Kennedy' director added.

Apart from the two, actor Saswata Chatterjee, actress Rituparna Sengupta, model-actress Richa Sharma were among the attendees.

Photo courtesy: IBNS

About the festival

The festival will run till February 24.

60 screenings featuring 28 full-length films Following the screenings each evening during the Film Festival, there will be panel discussions on various film sections featuring specialists, eminent filmmakers, and actors from film fraternity of Bengal and beyond.

Within the framework of this festival there will be the 9 hours of short film screening on February 23 evening to February 24 morning (9:00 pm-6:00 am) at Park Mansions Courtyard.

The festival will cover four sections- French New Wave, French Contemporary Films, Films for Young Audience and Indian Filmmakers featured in Cannes Film Festival.