Saluting the women in the field of filmmaking, the latest edition of IFFK will screen 25 most applauded films of 24 women directors in various categories. Rachel Perkins, Belmin Soylemez, Mariam Abou Ouf, Helena Ignez ,Lucia Carreras, Francisca Silva, Djamila Sahraouri, Ann Hui, Roeberta Marques, Nadine Labaki, are few to name among them. The Indian representation include Deepa Mehta, Sumitra Bhave and Ajita Suchitra Veera.
Rachel Perkins, a famous Australian film and television director, started her career with ‘Blood Brothers’ in 1993. All her works are focused on the real life of the teen girls in Australia and has six awards in her name. Her ‘One Night the Moon’ to be screened at IFFK depicts true story of a young girl who went missing in the Australian outback in 1932.
Born in Istanbul, Belmin Soylemez, worked as copy writer, editor, producer for companies like ARD German TV (Istanbul Office) and BBA (Independent Press Agency Istanbul). ‘Present Tense’ her film to be screened in the competition category shows the life of a young woman who wants to escape to the USA and start from zero. The film deals with the situations every Turkish woman has to face.
Mariam Abou Ouf is one of the ten directors of the most acclaimed ‘18 Days’. She studied direction from London, and is the daughter of renowned Egyptian Actor Ezzat Abou Ouf. She began her career with ‘Taxi’, a short film. ‘Bebo We Besheer’ was her first big screen feature. Her short film ‘Tahrir 2/2’ is part of ‘18 Days’. Being a graduate in economics and political science, her films focus on the political scenario of the nation and its economic and cultural aspects.
Helena Ignez is an iconic Brazilian actress, whose seven films are to be screened in the retrospective category. ‘Cancoes de Baal’ and ‘Light in Darkness’, her directorial ventures, are also included in this category.
Annemarie Jacir’s ‘When I Saw You’ in the world cinema category in the festival is the life of Tarek, separated from parents and living in refugee camps in Jordan, trying to get out of this situation and make a new life. Jacir, winner of 12 international awards, is a multi faceted personality with strong hold in direction, camera, scripting, editing and production. Jacir was nominated for the Golden Camera in Cannes in 2008. Her career started with ‘The Satellite Shooters’ in 2001.
Deepa Mehta, the most celebrated and discussed Indo-Canadian director, came to the limelight with her trilogy - ‘Fire’ (1996), ‘Earth’ (1998) and ‘Water’ (2005). Director of nine films, she is also the winner of the most reputed Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, 2012. Her latest film ‘Midnight’s Children’, based on Salman Rushdie’s book, is having its Indian premier in the festival.
Sumithra Bhave co-directed ‘Samhita’, to be screened in the Indian Cinema Now category, is on an ailing film producer who is in search of a great script on the man-woman relation.
Ajita Suchitra Veera was always fascinated with the experimental and artistic films and focused her career on these types of films. Her short feature ‘Notes on Her’ was an official entry to the Oscars in the year 2003. She believes that films have astonishing potential to transcend the everyday reality and transport us into other worlds and this is what her career is dedicated upon. Top Angel Indian Cinema includes her latest film ‘The Ballad of Rustom’, which revolves around a government official living in the countryside.