International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2013 announces 13.2 crore as prize money; Oscar winner Susan Sarandon and Rekha to attend the opening ceremony

The mother of all film festivals in India - The International Film Festival of India - is back to dazzle all film aficionados. As Goa gears up to host the jamboree, the clamour for India's biggest festival has already begun. And for good reason because IFFI this time will be bigger and better. For starters, the prize money for the International competition has already been raised to a whopping 13.2 crore. A total of 325 movies would be screened this time out of which 180 would be foreign ones. A total of 15 movies from around the world will finally compete for the coveted Peacock Award. The number of delegates have also been increased to 15,000 this year. Now that is big. But if this is not enough, Oscar winning Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon along with ageless Indian beauty Rekha and legendary singer Asha Bhosle will grace the opening ceremony. The Indian Panorama category, meanwhile will comprise of 25 feature films and 15 non- feature films from contemporary Indian cinema. Veteran actor Manoj Kumar will be flagging off the Indian panorama section during the inaugural ceremony. Special focus would also be given this time to North-East cinema with a total 19 films being chosen to represent the ethnic and cultural diversity of eight states of North East. The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award will be bestowed on legendary Czech filmmaker and actor Jiri Menzel. His film 'The Don Juans' will also open the festival. The movie promises to be a gripping narrative that combines comedy with drama. Justin Chandwick's biographical movie on Nelson Mandela called 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' will be the closing film of IFFI. Looks like IFFI is all ready to pack a punch this November.