Minister L Murugan To Lead Indian Delegation To Cannes Film Festival

Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan will lead the Indian delegation to the Cannes International Film Festival, where Anurag Kashyap's crime drama "Kennedy" and FTII alumnus Yudhajit Basu's "Nehemich" will be showcased in the official section.

Manipuri Director Aribam Syam Sharma's "Ishanou" will be showcased in the Cannes Classics section of the festival, which opens on May 16 in the resort town on the French Riviera.

Murugan is set to walk the red-carpet at the festival along with Oscar awardee Guneet Mongia of "The Elephant Whisperers" fame and actors Manushi Chillar, Esha Gupta and Kangabam Tomba, according to an official statement.

The India Pavilion has been conceptualised and designed by the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design with the theme – "Showcasing India's Creative Economy" to the global community.

The pavilion design has been inspired by the Saraswati Yantra, the abstract representation of Goddess Saraswati, keeper of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom and learning, the statement read.

The colours of the pavilion draw inspiration from the India's national flag – saffron, white, and green, and blue.

The Indian Pavilion will provide a platform to the Indian film community to sign distribution deals, greenlight scripts, crack production collaborations and simply network with the world's major entertainment and media players.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur will address the inaugural session through a video message to showcase India as a global hub for content creation at the 76th edition of Cannes's festival.

Kanu Behl's "Agra" will be have its world premiere at Cannes, at the Directors' Fortnight.

Anurag Kashyap's "Kennedy" is being screened in Midnight Screenings while "Nehemich" will be showcased in the 'La Cinef' section of the festival de Cannes.

A restored Manipuri film "Ishanhou", will be showcased in the 'Classics' section. The movie was previously played in the festival's "Un Certain Regard" section in 1991 and its film reels were preserved by the National Film Archive of India. The Manipur State Film Development Society got the film restored through the Film Heritage Foundation & Prasad Film Labs, an official said.

The eclectic bouquet of Indian films being screened in the segments of both Festival de Cannes & marche du Films, underlines that the Indian cinema has truly come of age, the official added.

A series of interactive sessions organised throughout the festival at India Pavilion will showcase the country as a Complete Filming Destination.

The "She Shines: Contribution of Women in Cinema" will highlight the presence of women in filmmaking.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)