Day one of IFFK is generally considered a low-key start to the upcoming frenzy, but not this time. All the main venues were swarming with film buffs, who started pouring into the theatres from morning itself, on Friday.
“We reached Nila by 9 am, 45 minutes before the show, but had to settle for the floor. The theatre was full and even 90 per cent of the floor was occupied,” said Sajini S while coming out of the theatre after watching Susanne Bier’s ‘Love is All You Need’.
According to some regular festival-goers, this time they had an opportunity to plan ahead, instead of randomly entering any theatre clueless about the film being screened there. “This year, they started distributing the pass and festival book much in advance and even the schedule was up days before. So that gave us the time to do research on films and pick the ones we wanted to see. This time, you can’t see long queues or any stampede in front of the delegate cell on the opening day,” said Aravind, another happy delegate.
Most of the festival guests are still arriving, while a handful of international filmmakers have already landed in the city. Quiz the delegates about who they are looking forward to meet this festival and surprisingly all come with the same answer - Kim Ki Duk.