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The 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will open with Austrian film “Alma & Oskar,” directed by Dieter Berner.

The film details the tumultuous relationship between Viennese society grand dame Alma Mahler (1879-1964) and Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980).

Krzysztof Zanussi’s quantum physics themed drama “Perfect Number” will close the festival, while Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s psychological thriller “Fixation” will be the mid-fest film.

IFFI has also revealed the 15 films that will be competing for its top prize, the Golden Peacock Award, including 12 international titles and three Indian ones.

The international titles include “Perfect Number,” “Red Shoes,” “A Minor,” “No End,” “Mediterranean Fever,” “When the Waves Are Gone,” “I Have Electric Dreams,” “Cold as Marble,” “Seven Dogs,” “Maarya: The Ocean Angel,” “Nezouh” and “The Line.”

The Indian titles are “The Kashmir Files,” “The Storyteller” and “Kurangu Pedal.”

The international jury is chaired by filmmaker Nadav Lapid (Israel) and members include producer Jinko Gotoh (U.S.), editor Pascale Chavance (France) filmmaker and critic Javier Angulo (Spain) and filmmaker Sudipto Sen (India).

Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura will be honored with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award and an eight-film retrospective at IFFI. France is the spotlight country with eight films being screened this year.

The Indian Panorama strand will open with Prithvi Konanur’s “Hadinelentu” while “The Show Must Go On” by Divya Cowasji will open the documentary film section.

IFFI will also pay homage to late legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar with a screening of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1973 musical drama film “Abhimaan,” starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri. In addition, homages will be paid to the recently deceased Bappi Lahiri, Birju Maharaj, Krishnakumar Kunnath, Ravi Tandon, Bhupinder Singh, K.P.A.C Lalitha, Krishnam Raju, Shivkumar Sharma, Prathap Pothen, Ramesh Deo, Salim Ghouse, Sawan Kumar Tak, Shiv Kumar Subramaniam, T. Rama Rao, Tarun Majumdar, Vatsala Deshmukh and Nipon Goswami.

Films from the National Film Archives of India will play in the Indian Restored Classics strand including Sohrab Modi’s “Nausherwan-E-Adil,” Ramesh Maheshwary’s “Nanak Nam Jahaz Hai,” K. Vishwanath’s
“Sankarabharnam” and two Satyajit Ray classics, “Shatranj Ke Khiladi” and “Ganashatru.”

Three films of Asha Parekh, this year’s Dadasaheb Phalke awardee, India’s highest film award, “Teesri Manzil,” “Do Badan” and “Kati Patang” will be screened. Strands also include a focus on the cinema from the northeastern state of Manipur and another on horror films.

Confirmed masterclasses at IFFI include those from: “Kung Fu Panda” director Mark Osborne; “Ponniyin Selvan: 1” filmmaker Mani Ratnam; cinematographer and director Rajiv Menon (“Bombay,” “Sarvam Thaala Mayam”); “Lagaan” DoP Anil Mehta; “The Lunchbox” actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui; “RRR” writer Vijayendra Prasad; “RRR” editor Sreekar Prasad; and “New Amsterdam” actor Anupam Kher.

In addition, in-conversation events are scheduled with Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, filmmakers Shekhar Kapur, Kabir Khan, Aanand L. Rai, R. Balki, Gauri Shinde and Luv Ranjan, actors Asha Parekh and Shefali Shah, writer, poet and chair of India’s Central Board of Film Certification Prasoon Joshi and studio executives Gaurav Gandhi, Lada Guruden Singh and Vivek Krishnani.

IFFI will take place in Goa from Nov. 20 – 28. The South Asian film market Film Bazaar takes place in Goa Nov. 20-24.