After successfully hosting the earlier versions, the state of Goa is set to go for this year’s 38th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), 2007. They're ready for the Nov. 23 opening of festivities.

Goa…very beautiful and very small demographically and yet, perhaps the biggest as the world-heritage-architectural state of India. Located on the west coast, it is bounded by famous Bombay (Bollywood) to the north and Bangalore (Silicon Valley of India) to the south.

Renowned for its exotic beaches and warm climate, Goa is visited by hundreds of thousands of international and domestic tourists each year. Due to the movie-friendly local government and scenic locales, it has now become one of the hotspots for home and international filmmakers. Bourne Supremacy and A Mighty Heart are a few notable Hollywood projects filmed in Goa.

Celebrating international cinema amid breathtaking nature and a multi-cultured society with great movie-loving natives makes Goa a perfect place for IFFI-07. This 11-day event will screen a total of around 200 films from 40 countries. No wonder why, “The Whole World in One Family” is the adopted motto of this festival.

Kala Mandir Auditorium, lifeline and cultural hub of Goa, situated on the banks of the River Mandovi is the venue for the opening and closing ceremonials of the festival.

Local and world-known bigwigs and delegates have started to arrive, setting the tone for this prestigious movie celebration. Plenty of media attention is gathered, since it was officially announced that the Bollywood’superstar Shah Rukh Khan will inaugurate the festival. Goans (residents) are just too ecstatic about this.

Here are just few planned things attendees will enjoy during IFFI 07…

• Kick-off with International Award Winning Romanian film.
• Accolades to legendary Swedish master Ingmar Bergman who died this year.
• Two newly constructed theatres will be open for movie screenings.
• Screening for the first-time in IFFI, is a controversy movie from Pakistan.
• “Movie Bazaar” a platform to promote Indian films to the International market.
• Special workshops on Digital Entertainment and Script Development.
• For the first time, this festival will be open to the general public
• And a lot more... Be sure to join us for our

Blogging from this Film Festival to begin on Nov 23.