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BIGGEST CELEBRATION OF GOOD CINEMA
SIFFCY 2023

SIFFCY  2025

A SMILE FOUNDATION
INITIATIVE

We are honored to host the 11th edition of the annual SIFFCY Film Festival in partnership with the European Union (Delegation of the European Union in India) from 28 Jan to 03 Feb 2025. The festival will be organized in a hybrid format to accommodate both in-person and virtual audiences. Major events, including the opening and award ceremonies, will take place at the iconic Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi on January 28, 29, and 30, 2025.

In parallel, screenings and related activities will be held in various locations in collaboration with the local schools and communities partners across India. Additionally, a curated selection of the program will be streamed on the festival’s secure, geo-blocked virtual platform, reaching a broader audience throughout the week.

FOCUS ITALY:
With an objective to give tribute to extraordinary films from all times of a particular nation, SIFFCY hosts a special section focusing on a country every year. This year SIFFCY has been fortunate enough to curate the best of ITALIAN CINEMA in partnership with the Italian Cultural Center, New Delhi. We celebrate best of Italian cinema made for young audience. This is an honest effort to exchange our art, culture, tradition and values through cinema and strengthen the cultural relationship between our nations.

COUNTRY OF HONOUR: POLAND
This year we are proud to celebrate POLAND as the Country of Honor at SIFFCY 2025. We are happy to collaborate with the incredible Polish Institute, New Delhi to host Polish Day during the festival this year. There will be multiple Polish film screenings and various sessions in the program during the weeklong festival. This is an honest effort to exchange our art, tradition and values through cinema and strengthen the cultural relationship between our nations.

CELEBRATING GERMAN & FINNISH FILMS
We are proud to collaborate with our long-standing partner SCHLINGEL IFF, Germany again this year to bring handpicked German films for Indian audience. In addition, we have collaborated with The Embassy of Finland in India to curate films from Finland.

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR DETAILED SCHEDULE

BACKGROUND:
SIFFCY is a flagship initiative of India’s leading charity Smile Foundation to engage, educate and empower young minds through the power of Good Cinema and related capacity building workshops, interactive panels, masterclasses and related activities. Each year, the annual film festival attracts thousands of filmmakers, industry professionals and Cinephile from around the globe, with over 50,000 young spectators attending the week-long events. This year, we aim to reach a larger audience, with expectations of over one million virtual participants.

(You may find more information on www.smilefoundationindia.org | www.siffcy.org)

INT'L COMP FEATURE

Asrid-Aure
ASTRID AURE / NORWAY

Festival Director TIFF Junior / Project Manager Youth at Tromsø International Film Festival
Having over 20 years’ of experience from large media companies, in various management roles, including editor-in-chief, project manager, development editor and managing editor,

Astrid Aure is the festival director of the Tromsø International Film Festival children’s edition, TIFF Junior, and has been with the festival since 2014. She works with children and young people year-round and is also the programme director for the “Films from the North“ programme at Tromsø International Film Festival. She studied Journalism and also completed a Masterʼs degree in Film Studies.

Mikk_Granstrom
MIKK GRANSTROM / ESTONIA

Head of Administration of TALLIN Black Nights Film Festival
Mikk Granström is the head organizer of the youth and children’s film festival Just Film and the administrative director of PÖFF. He has been appointed as a member of the European Film Academy. Granström, in addition to being a film festival organizer, is also a junior research fellow in Talllinn University‘s School of Educational Sciences. He defended his doctoral thesis, called, “Teachers’ and Students’ Knowledge of Learning Strategies and How Teachers’ Teach Learning Strategies in the Classroom.”

Elisabeth
ELISABETH LICHTKOPPLER / AUSTRIA

Co-Director International Children’s Film Festival Vienna
Elisabeth Lichtkoppler has been one of the organizers of the international Children’s Film Festival Vienna for nearly 30 years years. Since 1991, she is the Managing Director of the Children’s and Youth Cinema CINEMAGIC, which is a part of WIENXTRA, which helps to plan and organize many innovative childrenʼs and youth activities. The CINEMAGIC is also the cinema for the festival.

Marta
MARTA KARWOWSKA / POLAND

Acclaimed Filmmaker
Marta Karwowska is a graduate of the Polish Film School in Lodz and the Institute of Sociology at the Warsaw University. During her studies, she made several shorts features, including the „Owl” awarded at many festivals. She also directed children’s theatrical plays. 

Her debut „Double Trouble” had premiere in 2017. It is a family adventure film, watched by over 300,000 viewers. The international premiere was at the TIFF Kids in Toronto. Her next movie „Triple Trouble” gained many awards worldwide. In 2022 her third movie – a teenage love story titled „Fanfik” had a premiere on Netlifx.

Shubhra-Gupta
SHUBHRA GUPTA / INDIA

Film Critic, Author
Shubhra Gupta, a senior columnist and acclaimed film critic at The Indian Express, boasts over 30 years of experience with her widely-read weekly review column. A prominent figure in India’s film criticism scene, she frequently attends global film festivals and has served on national and international juries. She curates and conducts the hugely popular platform, The Indian Express Film Club, in Delhi and Mumbai. She has been a member of the Central Board Of Film Certification ( CBFC). She is the recipient of the prestigious 2012 Ramnath Goenka award that celebrates the finest in Indian journalism. Shubhra has authored two books–’50 Films That Changed Bollywood 1995-2015′ ( HarperCollins) and ‘Irrfan: A Life In Movies’ ( PanMacMillan), a comprehensive tribute to the late actor.