IFFI : Pawlikowski’s Fatherland Named Opening Film ; Dhurandhar, Ramayana Lead Indian Panorama And BRICS

Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar, directed by Aditya Dhar, will open the Indian Panorama feature segment at the 57th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), while Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana is set to inaugurate the BRICS special focus. Running from November 20 to 28, the festival has set Oscar-winning filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski’s Fatherland as its opening title. The festival wraps with Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s We Are All Strangers. Fatherland won Best Director at Cannes this year, while Chen's film competed for the Golden Bear at this year's Berlinale.

Festival director Ashutosh Gowariker announced the selections at a Friday press conference. Meanwhile, Becoming will kick off the non-feature category.

This year’s lineup debuts two new five-film showcases: an Animation segment highlighting creative and innovative animated cinema, and Films About Films, dedicated to the craft of filmmaking. Spain has been named the 2026 Country of Honour, with four titles slated to screen: Jaime Lorente’s The Bad Son, Trinidad, Pedro Almodóvar’s Bitter Christmas, and Jaime Maciá’s Persiguiendo a Michael.

In the Best Debut Feature Films Competition, seven entries will vie for the top prize: The Sledge and Birds on Ice (India), Paris (Belgium), Fading Man (Germany), The Black Sea (Egypt), L'Âge d'Or (France/Italy), and Atlantic (China). Drawn from 1,900 submissions across 137 countries, IFFI 2026 will screen 159 international titles from 87 nations alongside 76 Indian films spanning 18 languages.

IFFI Jury, Prize Details

Filmmaker Aanand L Rai will chair the international competition jury alongside an all-filmmaker panel featuring Romania’s Bogdan Muresanu, Venezuela’s María Alejandra Rojas, Thailand’s Ratchapoom Boonchachoke, and Argentina’s Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière.

On the awards front, the top Best Film honor carries the Golden Peacock and ₹51 lakh, while Best Director and the Special Jury Award each come with a ₹20 lakh purse (plus the Silver Peacock for Best Director). Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female), and Best Debut Feature Film of a Director will each award ₹15 lakh, whereas the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal winner will get a medal and certificate.

The festival will also celebrate the birth centenary of celebrated Polish auteur Andrzej Wajda with a five-film retrospective comprising Ashes and Diamonds, After Image, Man of Marble, Kanal, and The Promised Land.