What a bright and sunny day to participate in the marathon screening of global cinema. I choose to be at INOX Multiplex venue, which was built in record time of 100 days to host the 35th Film Festival. The Multiplex Theatre is situated behind the well-known Old GMC complex in a perfect blend of modern technology using Goan architectural sensibilities.

Now the screening -- it began with a sunrise show of a Bahraini tale (Hekaya Bahrainiya), part of “Cinema of the World” category of IFFI-07. This 96 minutes film is set during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, this epic drama is both the personal story of a middle-class Bahraini family and an account of the hopes and faith the Arab world had in Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918 - 1970) as its leader. Very well directed by Bassam Al-Thawadi, this movie demonstrates flexibility in both style and subject with deep sense of reality and romanticism. The social concerns here are clear and the storytelling is simple, yet both are challenging and help the film explore areas of Arab collective memory more powerfully than ever seen in other middle-eastern movies.

Just after finishing the first premier, a short distance from INOX, is the famous Basilica of Bom Jesus, a 400 years old church. One of the richest churches in Goa, it is carpeted with marble flooring and inlaid with precious stones. According to Goans this is one of the biggest Christian pilgrimage sites in Asia. A must visit place in Goa.

Goa is a heaven for food-lovers. The Goan cuisine is a spicy blend of exotic Indian spices with the Latin love of meat and fish. Cashews play an important role in Goan food and you might get the taste of cashew in almost everything you eat there. Today, I choose to try out George Restaurant; it is a tiny upstairs restaurant in a 200-year-old building where you can order wonderful Goan specialties while sitting on the balcony.

It’s about time to be enjoying the much talked Romanian movie of the festival. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is directed by Cristian Mungiu. This 113 minutes film is set in 1987, a Communist Romania in the final years of the Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918 - 1989) era. It tells the tragic story of two students, friends and room mates in the university, who try to arrange an illegal abortion for one of them, during the communist regime.

Not until now, I realized that both of today’s movies were period films. Subsequently I’ll catch-up with other themes and classes. Also in my plan is to experience “Film Bazaar,” an interactive platform between prospective buyers & sellers of film rights from India & abroad.