Pune: Following reports of rising Covid cases in the city, the Pune Film Foundation has decided to postpone the upcoming Pune International Film Festival (PIFF). The 19th edition of the fest was to be inaugurated on March 11. New dates of the festival shall be declared shortly, said organisers.
“Due to the current Covid situation, film enthusiasts have apprehensions about enjoying PIFF inside theatres. A lot of delegates inquired to check if their registration for PIFF in theatres can be converted to online format. As organisers, we would always want the festival to be enjoyed by maximum number of film aficionados and thus have decided to postpone the festival to be held in theatres,” said Dr Jabbar Patel, festival director, PIFF.
“However, we also believe that the ‘show must go on’ and have decided to host PIFF in its online format between March 18 and March 25. The online format is postponed only by a week primarily to facilitate the conversion of delegate registration from offline to the online format for those who wish to do so. As informed earlier, about 26 films from the world cinema category shall be showcased in the online format of the film festival,” he said.