the bangalore international film festival biffes is back in a bigger and better avatar for its 6th edition besides being christmas time december is also film festival time in bangalore with biffes set to screen 152 films from 45 countries in the coming week the day has finally dawned with thousands of film enthusiasts registering as delegates for a pass which will transport them to the magical world of cinema from across the world for a week the festival will open this evening with a glittering opening ceremony and the lighting of the ceremonial lamps part of the attraction at the ceremony is the presence of actor and director kamal haasan who is a festival favourite film enthusiasts from across the country remember him as the one of the handful of celebrities who sit engrossed through every screening unlike the rest of the brigade who are either on their phones or walking in and out of screenings coming back to this years festival the latest attraction is the newly instituted audience prize festivals across the world are known for their audience prize which is a great way to gauge the mood of a diverse audience pawan kumars lucia for instance won the audience prize for best film at the london film festival a pointer to its box office success one of the most noticeable trends in festivals across the world is the near demise of celluloid with the onset of the digital era more and more films are being made in digital format some 80 of films at this years biffes are in digital formatgoing digital has several advantages not the least of which is financial but its hard not to be nostalgic about that beam of light cutting through the darkness in the standalone theatre or not to romanticize about how celluloid became the subject of movies like cinema paradiso and the recent inglorious basterds by tarantino which ends with stock burning into raging fire trapping hitler in a theatre coming back to the films in the fray 14 of the films being screened at biffes were official entries to the best foreign language film award category at the 86th oscars the ceremony itself is scheduled for march 2 2014 and the foreign film submissions have already been shortlisted but we get to see 14 of the submissions right here in bangalore and on the big screens and thats pretty much as good as it gets which brings us to the film that opens the festival bekas directed by swedish filmmaker of kurdish origin karzan kader the film has been screened across the world and has won praise globally it has been compared to danny boyles slumdog millionaire thanks to the angle about two brothers on the run bekas loosely translated as orphans is a huckleberry finn meets slumdog millionaire meets cinema paradiso kind of film the story of dana and zana young boys who have lost their families in the war is told as a comedy living in