Join Pune International Film Festival, to explore different cinema : Dr. Jabbar Patel

Global Cinema Competition List and Online Registration is Begins

Mumbai-Pune (Ms Aditi Karan Samarth): The 24th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually after the Gandharva Music Festival to coincide with Pune’s pleasant winter weather, is being prepared for 2026. PIFF is organized jointly by the Pune Film Foundation, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Maharashtra, and Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, Mumbai. This year, it will be held in Pune from January 15th to 22nd, 2026, as announced by PIFF Festival Director and senior film director Dr. Jabbar Patel at a press conference.

Also present at the conference were Pune Film Foundation Trustees Dr. Mohan Agashe, Satish Alekar, and Sabina Sanghvi, senior film critic and Selection Committee Chairman Samar Nakhate, Film Selection Committee member Abhijit Randive, Deputy Director Vishal Shinde (Programs and Films), and Deputy Director Aditi Akkalkotkar (International Liaison and Coordination).

This year, PIFF screenings will be held across ten screens, including PVR, Pavilion Mall (6 screens), E-Square – University Road (3 screens), and NFAI – Law College Road (1 screen). The festival catalog fee is ₹800 for all participants, and online registration for PIFF has begun on the website http://www.piffindia.com. Spot registration will begin on January 5th from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM at all the PIFF screening theaters.

This year’s Pune Film Festival theme is the ‘Birth Centenary of the great producer, actor, and director Guru Dutt’. Approximately 140 films will be screened in various sections, including the International and Marathi Cinema Competition sections and the Global Cinema section. Dr. Patel said that the film festival will open with ‘La Grazia’ (Italy), directed by Paolo Sorrentino, and will close with ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ (USA, Ireland, France), directed by Jim Jarmusch.

In the World Cinema Competition section, more than 900 films from 103 countries were submitted. Of these, 14 films have been selected for the final rounds. These films will be judged by an international jury, and the best international film will receive the ‘Maharashtra Government Sant Tukaram Award for Excellence in International Cinema’ worth ten lakh rupees. The list of 14 films selected for this year’s World Cinema Competition section is as follows:

(1) ‘A Sad and Beautiful World’, Lebanon-USA-Germany-Saudi Arabia-Qatar, Director – Cyril Aris

(2) ‘Adam’s Second’, Belgium-France, Director – Laura Wandel

(3) ‘All That’s Left of You’, Germany-Cyprus-Palestine-Jordan-Greece-Saudi Arabia-Qatar, Director – Shireen Dabees

(4) ‘As We Breathe’, Turkey-Denmark, Director – Sehmus Altun

(5) ‘Blue Heron’, Canada-Hungary, Director – Sophie Romvari

(6) ‘Lost Land’, Japan-France-Malaysia-Germany, Director – Akio Fujimoto

(7) ‘Milk Teeth’, Romania-France-Greece-Denmark-Bulgaria, Director – Mihai Mincan

(8) ‘Nino’, France, Director – Pauline Lucas

(9) ‘Rebuilding’, USA, Director – Max Walker-Silverman

(10) ‘Silent Friend’, Germany-Hungary-France, Director – Ildikó Enyedi

(11) ‘Spying Stars’, France-India-Sri Lanka, Director – Vimukthi Jayasundara

(12) ‘The Elysian Fields’, India, Director – Pradeep Kubra

(13) ‘This Is My Night’, Syria-UAE, Director – Jafra Younes

(14) ‘White Snail’, Austria-Germany, Director – Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter