The 17th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) will be held from January 29 to February 6, 2026, with film screenings, academic sessions and cultural events scheduled across multiple venues in the city. The festival will be inaugurated on the evening of January 29 on the steps of Vidhana Soudha.
The inauguration will be conducted by the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar. Festival ambassador Prakash Raj, actor Rukmini Vasanth, members of the Kannada film industry, and national and international guests are also expected to attend the opening ceremony.
Public screenings will begin on January 30 at Cinepolis, Lulu Mall, Rajajinagar, across 11 screens. Additional screenings will take place at the Karnataka Film Artists’ Association in Chamarajpet and Suchitra Film Society in Banashankari.
This year’s festival will present around 225 films from more than 70 countries. The programme includes films from the USA, UK, Germany, France, South Korea, Belgium, Iran, Argentina, Australia, China, Japan, Poland, Spain, Italy and several other countries under the Contemporary World Cinema section. A number of these films have previously been screened at international film festivals and recognised through awards and audience response.
The festival theme for the 17th edition is based on a verse by poet Dr. G. S. Shivarudrappa, “Stree Endare Ashthe Saake..” (Woman As She Is), with the tagline “Woman: Shared Sensibilities, A Collective Voice for Equality.” As part of this focus, more than 60 films directed by women filmmakers will be screened.
Academic activities will be held daily and include masterclasses, panel discussions and lectures. Sessions will cover topics such as cinema editing, sound design, new-age storytelling, film criticism, and Kannada cinema across five decades. Speakers include Prakash Raj, Sreekar Prasad, Mahesh Narayanan, Bishwadeep Chatterjee, Anurag Kashyap, Girish Kasaravalli, Jayant Kaikini and others.
The festival will also feature special screenings marking milestones in the careers of Parvathamma Rajkumar, S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu, Girish Kasaravalli, S. Ramachandra and Jayamala. Centenary tributes, remembrance screenings and restored classics will form part of the programme.
Competition sections include Asian Cinema, Indian Cinema (Chitrabharati) and Kannada Cinema, with awards in each category. The closing ceremony will be held on February 6, 2026, at Sulochana Theatre, presided over by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot.
Delegate registration is open from January 16 through the official BIFFes website.
