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IFFI Names All-Male Indian Panorama Jury as Backlash Builds Online

The unveiling drew swift criticism on Instagram over the absence of women given recent high-profile gains by Indian women directors.

Overview

  • IFFI introduced the Indian Panorama jury with Raja Bundela chairing the feature panel and Dharam Gulati leading non-feature, with all named jurors being men.
  • The panel lists Krishna Hebbale, Kamlesh K Mishra, Malay Ray, Subhash Sehgal, Jadumoni Dutta, Aroon Baksi, Asim Sinha, Ashok Sharan, Sukumar Jatania, BS Basavaraju, Amaresh Chakrabarti, and Napoleon Thanga.
  • Instagram users questioned the lack of female representation, posting comments such as “Lack of women in the jury is glaring, do better” and “Did you not find any women on the jury in all of India?”.
  • The 56th festival runs November 20–28 in Panaji, Goa, showcasing over 240 films from 81 countries and featuring masterclasses by prominent industry figures.
  • Coverage notes recent acclaim for Indian women filmmakers—citing Kiran Rao, Payal Kapadia, and Sandhya Suri—as context for the criticism, and says Amaran opens the Indian Panorama feature lineup with Kakori opening the non-feature section.