THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 17th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) will have its curtains falling on Wednesday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will present the award for the festival winners at the valedictory ceremony held at the Kairali Theatre on Wednesday at 6 pm.
The lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to the field of documentary filmmaking will be presented to acclaimed independent director Rakesh Sharma at the function by the chief minster. Non-fiction jury chairperson Ranajit Ray and fiction jury chairperson Guruvinder Singh will present the jury reports in the event.
The closing ceremony, which will be presided over by Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian, will also be participated by Education Minister V Sivankutty, Agriculture Minister P Prasad, MLA Antony Raju, Cultural Affairs Department Director Divya S Iyer, and Chalachithra Academy officials, among others.
Making a bold statement against caste discrimination, the animation film ‘DA’Lit Kids’ emerged as one of the most talked-about works of this year’s IDSFFK. Produced by Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India and helmed by Appu Soman, the film followed Aravind, a young student from a marginalised community, who gets insulted in his class due to a minor mistake.
It showcases how Dalit labour is exploited and history is rewritten by power structures. ‘DA’Lit Kids’ transcended the boundaries of an animated film through the way in which the theme was presented.
Member Rintu Thomas said a documentary is a brutal form of art, as it delves into the complexities of entering, and disrupting people’s lives. She said that documentary making demands ‘vulnerability at an exponential level’ with narratives to strike the right balance. Director of the academy award-nominated documentary ‘Writing with Fire’ (2021), she stressed that spending more time with characters allows stories to organically unfold.
While ‘Hijabi Hacker’ director Iqra Shaikh spoke about how she drew inspiration from challenging the notions of being a Muslim girl, ‘I Am Revathi’ director Abhijith P talked about how his 20-year-long engagement with the struggles of India’s trans community helped him make a film.