57th IFFI in Goa from November 20 with new theme
The festival will feature 159 films from 86 countries under the theme Stories Without Borders.
The 57th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is scheduled to take place in Goa from November 20 to 28, 2026, according to ANI. The upcoming edition will operate under the theme ‘Stories Without Borders’ to highlight how cinema bridges cultural and geographical divides.
The festival will present 159 films representing 86 different nations, chosen from a pool of roughly 1,400 entries. Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski’s ‘Fatherland’ has been named the opening film. In the Indian Panorama segment, the feature ‘Dhurandhar’, starring Ranveer Singh, will serve as the opening film.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated at a curtain-raiser press conference on Friday that the state is ready to host the global film community. Festival director Ashutosh Gowariker said the theme acts as a guiding principle to see how films connect with audiences beyond familiar experiences.
The event will host three primary competitions: the International Competition, the Best Debut Feature Film Competition, and the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal. A Best Web Series (OTT) Award will also be presented.
Indian filmmaker Aanand L Rai will chair the five-member International Competition jury, which includes Bogdan Mureșanu, María Alejandra Rojas, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, and Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière. Professor Ahmed Bedjaoui will lead the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal jury alongside Maria Cristina Iglesias, Manouj Kadaamh, and Georges Dupont.