THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lebanese-French filmmaker Ziad Doueiri’s ‘The Insult’ will be the opening film at the 22nd International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) which will get under way here on Friday. In the aftermath of cyclone Ockhi, the inaugural function will be held minus the celebrations.The inaugural screening will take place at the Nishagandhi auditorium in the evening.
However, films will be screened at Tagore Theatre, Kalabhavan, Kairali, Sree and Nila from Friday morning itself. ‘King of Peking’ will be shown at Tagore Theatre and ‘Holy Air’ at Kairali at 10 am, ‘Woodpeckers’ will be screened at Kalabhavan and ‘Dogs and Fools’ at Sree at 10.15 am and ‘The Blessed’ at Nila at 10.30 am will be screened on the opening day.
'The Insult' is a critically acclaimed drama on the tinderbox of Lebanese identity and politics. Lebanese Christian Tony (played by Adel Karam) and Palestinian refugee Yasser (played by Yasser El Basha) exchange harsh words after Yasser tries to repair a drainpipe on Tony's balcony. The fallout leads to violence, courtroom confrontations and national attention.
Over the next eight days, 190 films from 65 countries will be screened in 14 theatres. The festival authorities said all arrangements have been made for early booking of the films. The audiences can book one day in advance via the IFFK website or the mob app or through the help desk.
The help desks will function from 8 am-9 pm. Special ramps and other facilities have been provided for the differently-abled.
In the competition section, 14 films will vie for the Golden Crow Pheasant Award. Five films by Alexander Sokurov have been included in the Retrospective on Sokurov films. The festival also pays homage to filmmakers, the late I V Sasi and K R Mohanan. Filipino filmmaker Lino Brocka’s films will be screened in Remembering the Master section.
Under the ‘Contemporary Film Maker in Focus’, films by African director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco will be screened. In the Retrospective section, Malayalam filmmaker K P Kumaran’s four films will be shown. The jury members of the International Film Festival started to arrive in the capital city and the first to touch down here was film editor Mary Stephen from Hongkong.
Film critic and historian Marco Muller is the chairman of the International Jury with director/screenwriter T V Chandran, actor Marlon Moreno and film scholar/ curator Aboubacker Sanogo being the other members.
(With Online desk)