Habitat International Film Festival (HIFF) returns to Delhi in May

The Habitat International Film Festival (HIFF) will make its return to the national capital with its third edition starting May 6, following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

The festival, which will close on May 15, aims to showcase films from across the globe that push the boundaries of cinematic arts, and reflect on the realities and perceptions of a changing world.

The line-up of the festival, to be held at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) here, includes Costa Rica’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards “Clara Sola”, winner of the Prix du Public UBS award at the 74th Locarno Film Festival “Hinterland”, Zurich Film Festival winner “The Last Austrians”, Finland’s “The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See The Titanic”, and Portugal’s “The Metamorphosis of Birds”.

“HIFF, though smaller and more niche in comparison to other Film Festivals, has carved out a special space and a loyal audience. It is a cherry picked curation of critically acclaimed a n d aw a r d winning cinema, m a d e possible by the generous cooperation and collaboration of the Embassies and Cultural Centres for which we a r e d e e p l y grateful. We cannot wait to welcome back filmmakers and film lovers to Habitat,” said Vidyun Singh, Creative Head Programmes, IHC.

With diversity at the forefront, the edition also brings together a pan-Indian selection of films from a plethora of Indian languages such as Hindi, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Bengali, and more.

Director G. Prabha’s “Taya”, Achal Mishra’s “Dhuin”, Ritesh Sharma’s “Jhini Bini Chadariya”, Ainu Baruah’s “Dimasa”, Madhuja Mukherjee’s “Deep 6” are some of the Indian films to be screened at the movie gala.

A special selection of Korean films -- “In The Name Of The Son”, “Chorokbam”, “Siere”, “The Cave” -- will also be screened at the festival in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre, New Delhi.

Short films and documentaries, interactive sessions, and a Festival Cafe serving the choicest of international street food delicacies are touted to be the other important highlights of the festival. —PTI