About the Festival
Film Society of Bhubaneswar (FSB) completes two decades of its work (starting from 2005) and returns with the 15th Indian Film Festival Bhubaneswar, a programme that draws its shape from conversations and nearly two decades of screenings, retrospectives and archive-led initiatives. Over the years we have brought restored classics and retrospectives of major film makers, showcased bold regional debuts and established auteurs, and foregrounded films that probe gender, migration, indigenous life-worlds, technology and uneven development.
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This year’s festival continues with a retrospective of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, alongside a handpicked selection of contemporary features and shorts from across the subcontinent.
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The poster is live; passes and the full schedule will be announced soon — we invite students, cinephiles and the public to join us for a week of screenings and conversations that connect the rich history of our past festivals to urgent stories being made today. The festival is free for all our Film Society Members.
Retrospective: Adoor Gopalakrishnan
"I am not interested in creating a reality that engages the audience just on its surface. I want the audience to explore beneath the surface."
Born in Kerala in 1941 into a family with a strong tradition in Kathakali theatre, Adoor Gopalakrishnan has always emphasized the "disciplined, ritualistic storytelling" of his heritage. A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (1965), he founded the Chitralekha Film Cooperative to champion non-commercial cinema. His work refuses to imitate the West, insisting instead that "cinema has a lot to do with one's own culture".
Adoor Gopalakrishnan's cinema is a study of "dying worlds" and "cosmic disorder". His films are not merely stories; they are experiences where the narrative is often just an excuse to keep the audience exploring deeper layers of reality. Rooted in the soil of Kerala, his works reflect the gentle pace of life in the south while exposing the underlying moments of dramatic crisis and disorienting change. From the moral ambiguities of Swayamvaram to the oppressive feudal decay in Elippathayam, Gopalakrishnan’s films strip away the "story" to reveal the essential mystery of the human condition.
