Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 silent movie ‘The Ring’, screened to the accompaniment of live background score by London-based musicians, will open the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) at Nishagandhi open air auditorium on Friday. The movie is being shown in the context of observing the centenary of Indian cinema and platinum jubilee year of Malayalam cinema, said Minister Ganesh Kumar here on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the festival at the auditorium at 6 pm. Actor Mohanlal will be the chief guest. Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, Health Minister V S Sivakumar, Mayor K Chandrika, K Muraleedharan MLA and V Sivankutty MLA will be present.
Chalachitra Academy chairman Priyadarshan said that the focus this year will be on good cinema rather than ‘glitter and glamour.’ ‘’The aim is to show as many good films as possible within our budget. The accent is certainly on content rather than the glamour element,” he said.
The premiere of Deepa Mehta’s ‘Midnight’s Children’ based on Salman Rushdie’s epochal novel will be a highlight of the festival.
An exclusive children’s movie section to be screened at Nishagandhi and Kanakakkunnu on December 8 and 9 is an attempt to bring in the participation of child audience in the festival, he said. “We are sending out invites to schools. Parents and teachers can accompany them,” he said.
Deputy Director of Festivals Beena Paul Venugopal added that a workshop on the making of children’s films involving South Asian film makers will be held at Kanakakkunnu on December 9 and 10.
In answer to a question, the Chairman said that the Open Forum, one of the most lively and popular segments of the festival, has not been scrapped. “Its name has been changed to ‘Meet the Director/Meet the Artiste’. We hope the idea of having this segment is better communicated when put this way so that it does not turn into an opportunity to rake up controversies.”
The Minister joined him to shoot down queries regarding alienating the Film Society, which conducted the Open Forum since the inception of the festival. “We are providing the infrastructure. Anyone is welcome to use the platform. Film Society members have been part of the discussions regarding the festival and they are participating like every year as delegates,” he said.