Chandigarh, Mar 26 (IANS): The first edition of the Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF) to be held in Chandigarh from March 27 to 31 will boast of a host of masterclasses and panel discussions, including one with filmmaker Karan Johar, which film critic Namrata Joshi will moderate.

The 20 masterclasses and panel discussions to be held at Taj Chandigarh will feature Shekhar Kapur, Jaideep Ahlawat, Tahira Kashyap, Richa Chadha, Ali Fazal, Roshan Mathew, Abhay Deol, Sudhir Mishra, 'Kohrra' star Suvinder Vicky, Boman Irani, Rasika Dugal, Rajshri Deshpande, Ajitpal Singh, Anurag Singh, Sudhir Mishra and Saugata Mukherjee, Head of Content, SonyLiv, Sony Pictures Network India, etc.

The opening film of the festival is the Cannes award-winning French film 'The Taste of Things' starring Juliette Binoche while the closing one is South Korea's highest-grossing film of 2024 till date -- the horror-mystery-thriller 'Exhuma' ('Pamyo'), which premiered at the 2024 Berlinale.

The festival advisory board includes Rana Daggubati, former Head of Cannes Film Market Jerome Paillard, former Co-Director of Sundance Film Festival Nicole Guillemet, filmmaker Ajitpal Singh, Bangladeshi filmmaker and screenwriter Nuhash Humayun and the co-owner of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency Julian Friedmann.

Nina Lath, Founder & CEO of Cinevesture, says, "CIFF wants to bring the best minds together through our specifically curated masterclasses to further the conversation on the creative as well as the business aspects of the industry and how to build upon it."

Adding that masterclasses are an excellent way to have engaging conversations, CIFF Director V.S. Kundu says, "These classes are intended to touch every aspect of filmmaking and we are only hoping the best to come out of these panel discussions."