Drop in footfall as BIFFes contends with multiple avenues this year

The opening weekend of BIFFes also saw a host of popular films hit the screens - Malayalam film Bheeshma Parvam starring Mammootty, Nagaraj Manjule’s Jhund starring Amitabh Bachchan and the re-release of Godfather to mark its 50th year

Despite happening after a gap of a year when theatres were mostly shut down, the footfall at the 13th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) seems to have dropped, even during the weekend, compared to the previous years. Organisers said this is because over 800 people had registered and were watching movies online, a facility introduced for the first time at BIFFes. 

However, film buffs point out reduced enthusiasm for the Festival this year for a myriad of reasons. The ongoing edition of BIFFes has had to contend for attention of film buffs with multiple avenues. For instance, Pune International Film Festival and Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival’s schedules have clashed with BIFFes and both festivals offer online screenings as well.

“These three festivals actually have a varied selection of films with little overlap. It actually makes sense to sit at home and watch films from all three festivals, which is exactly what I did this year,” said filmmaker Sandeep Kumar. Many from other parts of Karnataka who used to travel to Bengaluru for the festival, have mostly stayed away this year, opting to see films from multiple festivals from the comfort of their homes. 

The opening weekend of BIFFes also saw a host of popular films hit the screens - Malayalam film Bheeshma Parvam starring Mammootty, Nagaraj Manjule’s Jhund starring Amitabh Bachchan and the re-release of Godfather to mark its 50th year, cinema that film buffs in the city were keen on catching on the big screen. Several groups of film buffs were seen leaving the festival venue on Saturday to catch Jhund and Godfather, for instance. 

What also seems to have adversely impacted BIFFes this year is that the Festival was not held last year. “More than half of the world cinema being screened at BIFFes this year are from 2020, because BIFFes refused to make the transition to online screening, which most festivals across the world embraced during the pandemic. As most other festivals went online, it democratised access and freed it from geography. Film enthusiasts from Karnataka too registered and saw films through the pandemic. Now they seem to have already seen most of the films being screened at BIFFes, which is the main reason for lack of enthusiasm,” said Yadunandan Keelara, a film enthusiast from Mysuru. “The scheduling of films is also skewed - the weekend was dominated by Kannada films and world cinema during weekdays. When I could come during the weekend the schedule offered no encouragement,” he added.