The 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will commence in Goa on Tuesday.

The festival will held from Nov 20-30. The Chief Guest for the opening function will be cinestar Akshay Kumar.

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari will be present on the occasion along with the Minister of Culture for Republic of Poland and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Bringing to the audience a selection of hand-picked cinema, the ten-day extravaganza will include sections like Indian Panorama which includes Feature and Non-Feature cinema selections, Indian Retrospectives, Homage, Their Firsts, Masterclasses, Student Films and more.

There will also be special segments such as Festival Kaleidoscope, Cinema of the World, Foreign Retrospectives, Homage, Country Focus, Sketches on Screen (Animation & 3D cinema), Masterstrokes, Documentaries which form a part of International Screening section.

The Festival involves a total screening of more than two hundred movies over the ten day duration.

The Festival will showcase Oscar Award winner Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi' as its opening movie, and will screen Mira Nair's 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' as the closing movie of the festival.

Celebrating the hundred years of Indian cinema, the 43rd International Film Festival of India will showcase a special section - 'Centenary Celebrations', which will screen a selection of the best movies from Indian Cinema's glorious hundred year history.

The centenary year of Indian Cinema will also be celebrated by bestowing the 'Centenary Film Award' to a competition film selected by a special jury panel which deftly showcases the glory of cinema as a medium.

Providing an opportunity to cine lovers to experience the best of Indian and world cinema, the marquee event of the Indian cinema industry will pay a special tribute to the completion of a hundred years of Indian cinema, where a jury choice of cinema will be cited with a special 'Centenary Award' comprising a Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 10, 00, 000, which is to be given to a feature film that reflects a new paradigm in motion pictures in terms of aesthetics, technique or technological innovation.

The recipients of the marquee awards will be announced on the closing ceremony on Nov 30, which will be attended by the who's who of the cinematic world and luminaries from the creative fields which include Mira Nair, Kim Ki-duk, Ashok Amritraj, Tabu, Kailash Kher, Saroj Khan and others

One of the key highlights of this year's IFFI will be honouring of eminent Polish film director Krzystof Zanussi with the Life Time Achievement Award.

The 43rd International Film Festival of India will also give away popular jury awards which recognize the best of cinematic creativity on display at the festival.

The awards will be given away by a selected panel of jury who will confer awards in the following categories.

- Best Film
Golden Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 40, 00, 000/- to be shared equally between the Director and Producer

- Best Director
Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 15, 00, 000/-

- Best Actor (Male)
Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 10, 00, 000/-

- Best Actor (Female)
Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 10, 00, 000/-

- Special Jury Award
Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 15, 00, 000/-

- Lifetime Achievement Award
Given to an individual for his/her outstanding contribution to World Cinema with a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 10, 00, 000/-

- Centenary Award
Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 10, 00, 000/-, for a feature film that reflects a new paradigm in motion pictures in terms of aesthetics, technique or technological innovation

Started in 1952, the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has evolved into a major forum for Cinema from across the world.

From Satyajit Ray to Akira Kurosawa, from Marcello Mastrioni to Roman Polanski and Gurinder Chadha to Mira Nair, the International Film Festival of India has become a landmark destination for established and young filmmakers and directors from every continent.

IFFI-2012 provides an ideal opportunity for filmmakers and film lovers to watch, appreciate and learn the art of film making in sylvan surroundings and a relaxed creative environment.

It also provides a great platform for networking with some of the best industry professionals from India and abroad.