Ramesh Sippy, Shatrughan Sinha join Mamata Banerjee to inaugurate 31st Kolkata International Film Festival

The inauguration was held at Dhanadhanya Auditorium.

Cricket icon and state brand ambassador Sourav Ganguly, filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh and actress Tilottama Shome were present at the inauguration.

Bengali film veteran Ranjit Mallick, iconic singer Arati Mukerjee and several other regional stars including Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Dev, Koel were among the attendees.

The opening film was the Bengali classic Saptapadi (1961), starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. 

This edition showcases 215 films from 39 countries, across 18 Indian and 30 foreign languages. 

The “Focus Country” is Poland, with a special segment devoted to Polish cinema. 

A centenary tribute is being paid to filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak; several of his films will be screened.

The festival runs from November 6-13, 2025.