56th International Film Festival of India

56th International Film Festival of India
	Official poster
Opening film	The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro
Closing film	A Useful Ghost
Location	Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium at Panaji, Goa, India
Founded	1952
Awards	Golden Peacock: Skin of Youth; Silver Peacock:; Best Director: Santosh Davakhar; Best Actor: Ubeimar Ríos; Best Actress: Jara Sofija Ostan; Best Debut Film of a Director: Hesam Farahmand and Tõnis Pill; Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award: Rajinikanth; ; Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema Award: Nandamuri Balakrishna; ;
Hosted by	Government of Goa; Directorate of Film Festivals;
No. of films	240
Festival date	Opening: 20 November 2025 ; Closing: 28 November 2025
Website	iffigoa.org

The 56th International Film Festival of India took place from 20 to 28 November 2025 at Panaji, Goa. In place of its customary indoor stadium launch, the opening ceremony was presented this year as a carnival parade. The festival opened with the screening of 2025 dystopian drama film The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro. Indian film director and screenwriter Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra served as the chairperson of the International Jury. The festival presented more than 240 films from 81 countries, including 13 world premieres, 5 international premieres and 44 Asian premieres.

Japan was designated as the 'Country of Focus' at the festival, and it will present six curated titles. In addition Spain will be the Partner Country, with Australia as the Spotlight Country. The festival also celebrated centenaries and honoured cinematic legends such as Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla, Ritwik Ghatak, P. Bhanumathi, Bhupen Hazarika, and Salil Chowdhury with special retrospectives of their works.

The closing ceremony on 28 November featured a felicitation of actor Rajinikanth, recognizing his contributions to cinema over the past five decades. The festival concluded with the announcement of various awards. Golden Peacock for the best feature film was won by the Vietnamese transgender sex romance film Skin of Youth by Ash Mayfair. A Useful Ghost, a Thai supernatural black comedy-drama by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke was screened as the closing film of the festival.