PANAJI: At the International Film Festival of India, which will take place in Goa later this month, Australian filmmaker Phillip Noyce will receive the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award.
This prestigious award will be given to the 74-year-old director, who has directed films like “Patriot Games” (1992), “Sliver” (1993), “Clear and Present Danger” (1994), “The Bone Collector” (1999), and “Salt” (2010). He has collaborated with actors like Val Kilmer, Harrison Ford, Denzel Washington, Michael Caine, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Rutger Hauer.
He also directed the 2016 American miniseries “Roots” and the remake of the same-titled 1977 miniseries.
Michael Gracey’s “Better Man,” an Australian semi-biopic that provides an engrossing look into the life of the legendary British pop star Robbie Williams, will have its Asia premiere to kick off the big film festival.
In the presence of Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan, I&B ministry secretary Sanjay Jaju, ministry special secretary Neerja Shekhar, and festival director (IFFI) Shekhar Kapur, these announcements were made during a curtain-raising press conference for the 55th edition of IFFI.
101 countries have submitted 1,676 entries to the film festival this year.
More than 180 foreign films from 81 nations will be shown at the mammoth film festival, including 15 world debuts, three international premieres, 40 Asian premieres, and 106 Indian premieres.
These make up the selection of well-known and acclaimed films from the international circuit.
With a special selection of Australian films and a significant presence at the festival, Australia will be the “Country of Focus” for IFFI 2024. Highlights of this area include a presentation by AusFilm, which promotes Australia’s distinctive filming sites and co-productions, and a memorandum of understanding between Screen Australia and the NFDC, which allows leading Australian filmmakers to participate in the festival and the Film Bazaar.
