THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four Indian movies, including two in Malayalam, are among the 15 films which have been included in the competition category for the 21st International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).
For the first time in its history, IFFK features a Malayalam film directed by a woman in the competition. The film by Vidhu Vincent unravels the life and struggles of manhole workers.
The other Malayalam film nominated is Dr Biju's 'When the woods bloom', which depicts the story of a policeman who loses his way in a dense forest in his pursuit of a suspected Maoist woman.
The film, focusing on gender issues, was selected for screening at many film festivals, including Montreal World Film Festival and the Indian International Film Festival.
The other Indian movies to be screened in the competition category are 'The last Mural' by Saibal Mitra from Bengal and the Assamese silent film' Maj Rati Keteki 'by Santwana Bardoloi.
Films of Turkey, Egypt, Philippines, China, South Africa, Ghana, Singapore, Mexico and Iran are also included in the category.
Yesim Ustaoglu's 'Clair Obscur', Mohamed Diab's 'Clash', Mustafa Kara's 'Cold of Kalandar', Jun Robles Lana's 'Die Beautiful', Wang Xuebo's ' Knife in the Clear Water', Brett Michael Innes' 'Sink' and Yang Zhang's 'Soul on a String' are the other nominations.