Panaji, Nov 12 (IANS): The opening film of Shorts IFFI 50, a short film event, at the 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India will be dedicated to former Goa Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar, an official said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, Subhash Phaldesai, vice-chairman of the Entertainment Society of Goa, which co-hosts the international festival along with the Directorate of Film Festivals, said that the film celebrated the role played by Parrikar to host the first edition of the festival in Goa in 2004.

"Shorts IFFI 50 will open with a seven-minute film on Manohar Parrikar who brought the IFFI to Goa in 2004," Phaldesai said. Shorts IFFI 50 is a short film section which will be a part of IFFI which gets underway in Goa from November 20.

IFFI was a travelling festival until 2003 and shuttled between multiple cities including Delhi and Mumbai before Goa was finalised as a permanent venue for the event by the then National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 2004. Parrikar was the chief minister of the coastal state at the time.

Parrikar, a former Defence Minister died in March this year, following prolonged illness.