…and it all starts with the opening words, “Thirty-five hundred delegates have registered for the festival, of which 1400 are just from Goa itself,” as said by the Chief Minister of Goa on the eve of IFFI-07. I foresee that delegate numbers will rise, as we get into the festival. Thanks to the newly introduced ticketing system, this helped me and will facilitate fellow delegates and media personnel to plan their choice of film screenings, resulting in no waiting in line and more time to enjoy the festivities.

All festival venues are conveniently located within 10 miles from the state’s capitol Panaji, a beautiful river-front city where all the grandeur-lodging arrangements are made for officials and VIPs. The Majestic, Cidade de Goa and Clarks Inn Aguada Anchorage are the official sea-facing resorts during the festival. IFFI-kiosks are setup at public places and bus stands and railway stations are handy to assist attendees. Foreign delegates and guests are greeted by multi-lingual staff at the airport to help them pilot through to the festival. Special shuttles are arranged for delegates to move around the venues.

Reaching decorative Kala Mandir for the opening ceremony was hassle-free. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the last year’s event, but looking at this year’s arrangements, I can sense that the organizers have left nothing undone to make this festival a complete match with other International Film Festivals.
As informal, IFFI-07 opening ritual was as serious as other International Festivals, avoiding any live entertainment show for the general public that might cause chaos and security concerns. Only to be seen, were registered delegates, governmental bodies, and media people, together with Chief Guest Shah Rukh Khan. Just before lighting up the lamp, a traditional ceremonial-goodluck practice, Mr. Khan said, “Let's dedicate the 38th IFFI to ordinary people.”

Being around, I can feel the mood that every local resident is in festival fervor. Business-owners are hopeful about the commerce this festival is already bringing to them. There are scores of international cuisines around this Portuguese influenced place, but a standout is the Goan’s favorite “fish curry.”

The most commonly spoken word in Goa is “feni”. And the reason is not difficult to understand, feni is the name of the most popular local drink. It is made with cashews. Feni has now become a Goa-tradition. So don’t forget feni, when you’re in Goa!

That’s for today… Tomorrow begins the marathon screening of all class of film, which includes much talked Romania film, 4 Month, 3 Weeks, 2 days