MUMBAI: The 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held in Panaji, Goa will for the first time highlight cinema from the north eastern states of India. The opening ceremony for this section will include actors Seema Biswas and Adil Hussain.

The festival has created a special north-east package named ‘Focus: North East’. The section will be inaugurated on 22 November and close on 27 November. A total of 23 films from the north east will be screened between these dates. This will include Ek Pal, as a special homage to its producer Hemendra Prasad Barooah.

The opening movie of the section will be Khawnlung Run, the first-ever Mizo film to be screened in any international festival. Among the other films to be screened is Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Aru Joymoti, which was directed by the late Bhupen Hazarika.