The week-long magnificent cinema experience offered by the 17th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will come to an end on Friday. Nearly 7,000 delegates have watched a total of 198 films from 51 nations screened at 11 theatre halls and the Nishagandhi open air theatre in the city from last Friday, when the festival opened.
“We could distribute all the delegates passes on time. The pass distribution through the branches of State Bank of Travancore made it a smooth affair this time. Nearly 400 passes are still with us and it is expected that the delegates would turn up on the last day,’’ said K Manoj Kumar, secretary, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Fourteen films, including ‘Shutter’ by Joy Mathew, ‘Filmistan’ by Nitin Kakkar, ‘ID’ by Kamal and ‘Inheritors of the Earth’ by T V Chandran from India, compete for the coveted ‘Suvarna Chakoram’ (golden crow pheasant). Films released in the last ten months are included in ‘Competition’ and ‘World Cinema’ sections.
Heavy rush of delegates was witnessed during many screenings. The crowd-pullers included ‘Pieta’ by Kim Ki Duk, ‘Filmistan’, ‘Shutter’, ‘ID’, ‘Holy Motors’, ‘Chitrangada’, ‘Amour’, ‘Rose’, ‘Innocence’ and ‘Ivan’s Woman.’
African director Sulaiman Sisse will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony starting at 6 pm at Nishagandhi open air auditorium. Cinema Minister K B Ganesh Kumar will present the awards, including the golden crow pheasant for the best picture, at a function to be presided over by Minister for Culture K C Joseph.
Mayor K Chandrika, festival coordinator Sajan Peter and Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Chairman S Priyadarshan will attend. One hundred artists led by ‘tavil’ exponent Karunamoorthy will present ‘Thappattam’ as part of the function.