NEW DELHI: Twenty films – four each from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are to feature in the first government level BRICS Film Festival toi be held in here early next month.

Malayalam movie Veeram will be the opening film for the festival being held from 2 to 6 September at Siri Fort Auditorium.

They jury is headed by eminent Kannada filmmaker T S Nagabharana. Other members are producer and curator Francis Vogner do Reis from Brazil; Kirill Razlogov of Russia who has served as a special adviser for 11 years on film history and international affairs to the President of Goskino of the USS;  Hou Keming of China who is a professor of the direction department of Beijing Film Academy and chairperson of the China Children’s Film Association and the president of China International Children’s Film Festival; and Ms. Xoliswa Sithole of South Africa who is founder and director, of Nayanaya Pictures and  the founding member of Filmmakers against Racism.

Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, releasing a poster of the festival, said the idea of organizing BRICS film festival originated at the last BRICS Summit and was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore was also present on the occasion

The Film Festival would act as a platform for people of the film industry of member countries to explore areas of cooperation in the domain of “cinema, culture and cuisine”. The festival would also celebrate the excellence of cinema by rewarding filmmakers, actors, producers and directors.

The BRICS Film Festival would be a bioscope that would showcase distinct cultures, cuisines and arts from the participating countries. A step taken to build bridges and bring harmony amongst the BRICS countries, the festival would ensure more people-to-people contact between member countries especially youth.

In this context, the minister said that India has planned activities like U-17 Football Tournament, Youth Summit, Young Diplomats’ Forum and also a special screening of student films from some BRICS nations during the course of the festival.

The Opening film for the festival would be the world premiere of the Malayalam movie, Veeram directed by Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair and starring Kunal Kapoor. The movie is a trans-creation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and flawlessly portrays the greed for power and the extent a person goes to attain them. Jayaraj is a multiple National Awards Winner who has marked his presence in mainstream as well as art house films. His last film Ottal, won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

The Closing film would be the Chinese movie Skiptrace starring Jackie Chan directed by Renny Harlin. The movie is an action-comedy, which revolves around a Chinese detective who teams up with an American Gambler to catch a Chinese Criminal.

The film festival will showcase an amalgamation of culture, films, song & dance and food of the 5 member countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Exclusive cuisines from all the BRICS nations would also be available at the Food Court, arranged in the festival venue. A Crafts Fair is also being organized at the Sir Fort auditorium complex with all member countries putting up stalls with souvenirs and other properties for sale.

Beyond films, the Festival will also bring to stage spectacular performances by the Chengdu Performing Arts Theatre (China), Theatre Leningrad Centre Dreams of Russia and MBZ Music Production (South Africa).

The films in the competition section from all the 5 participating countries are listed below: