THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hundred and eighty five films from 62 countries - the 21st International Film Festival of Kerala, the state’s biggest cultural fete, will begin in the city today. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival while actor-director Amol Palekar will be the chief guest.
The official opening will be followed by Navid Mahmoudi’s feature debut ‘Parting’, an Afghani-Iran production and an intense portrayal of migrant lives.
This year’s signature film pays homage to film archivist P K Nair, who played a key role in the birth of IFFK. The film by K R Manoj attempts to represent the history and character of the most celebrated and unique cultural event of Kerala.
81 films in world cinema session
81 films from 50 different countries including India will be screened as part of the world cinema session. This category includes South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki Duks latest film ‘Net’ that explores the story of a poor fisherman.
‘The Age of Shadows’ directed by Jee-woon Kim, ‘A Death in the Gunj’ which is also the directorial debut of Bollywood actress Konkona Sen Sharma, Leena Yadav’s critically acclaimed ‘Parched’ and Gurvinder Singh’s ‘Chauthi Koot’ are the three films by Indian directors in this category. This category also includes 8 Iranian films including ‘The salesman’ by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi which made it to the competition category of the Cannes International Film festival.
Gender Bender section
One highlight of the latest edition will be Gender Bender, a curated section, that zooms on LGBT community. This section features six films that map the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender reality. ‘Front Cover’ directed by Ray Yeung, ‘Loev’ by Sudhansu Saria, Philippine drama film ‘Quick Change’ directed by Eduardo Roy Jr, ‘Rara’ by Pepa San Martin, Ester Martin Bergsmark’s ‘Something Must Break’,’The Summer of Sangaile’ by Alante Kavaite are the films included in this package.
Exclusive package
Moreover, there is an exclusive package curated by famous festival programmer and critic Paolo Bertolin. Eight films that depict the perils of migration and displacement will be screened under this section. The movies to be screened under this category include ‘In the Last Days of the City’ by Tamer El Said , ‘Fire at Sea’ by Gianfranco Rosi, ‘ID’ by K M Kamal, ‘Mediterranea’ by Jonas Carpignano, ‘Mercenaire’ by Sacha Wolff, ‘Soy Nero’ by Rafi Pitts, ‘The Road to Mandalay’ by Midi Z and ‘Sin Nombre’ by Cary Joji Fukunaga.
‘Life of Artists’, another package, explores the private and creative worlds of some artists. Four renowned biopics including ‘Camille Claudel’ directed by Bruno Nuytten, ‘Fifi Howls from Happiness’ directed by Mitra Farhani, ‘Modigliani of Montparnesse’ directed by Jacques Becker and ‘Van Gogh’ by Maurice Pialat will be screened under this category. While Michel Khleifi, the famous Arab film writer, heads the international jury, the other members include Seema Biswas, Serik Aprymov, Baran Kosari and Pedro Pimenta. 13 theatres with a capacity of 9,000 will be the venues.