KOZHIKODE:After two regional International Film Festivals of Kerala (IFFK) in the state and national film festivals in various cities across the country, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (KSCA) will conduct a five-day National Film Festival in Kozhikode. The festival will be conducted in association with the city corporation, Aswani Film Society and Bankmen’s Film Society.
Festival director Chelavoor Venu says the festival will be conducted from May 12 to 16. “The film festival will be held at the Tagore theatre here. A total of six movies will be screened at the fest. The movies yet to be released in theatres and in the meantime screened at the ‘competition section’ and ‘Malayalam cinema’ in the 19th edition of IFFK held in Thiruvananthapuram last year have been selected for this fest,” he says.
‘Asthamayam Vare’ (Unto the Dusk) directed by Sajin Baabu, ‘Zahir’ by Sidhartha Siva, ‘Jalamsam’ (A Touch of Water) directed by M P Sukumaran Nair, ‘Calton Towers’ conceived by Salil Lal Ahamed, ‘Oraallppokkam’ (Six Feet High), directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, and ‘Vidhooshakan’ (The Enlightened) by T K Santhosh are slated to be showcased at the National Film Festival next week in Kozhikode, the city which hosted the first IFFK, then conducted by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC). ‘Asthamayam Vare’ and ‘Zahir’ were the movies screened at the competition section of IFFK.
Though KSCA had decided to conduct the regional IFFK here in Kozhikode, according to the academy authorities, it was due to certain technical reasons the fest was shifted to Nilambur in Malappuram.
Chelavoor Venu says that delegates passes will be issued at the festival office functioning at Hotel Nalanda. “The passes will be issued from the festival office from 11 am to 7 pm. The delegate fee has been fixed as Rs 100 and the passes will be given to the first 1,000 applicants,” he says, adding that the film festival is being conducted in connection with the golden jubilee celebrations of the city corporation. “Last year also, we had conducted a film fest in connection with the celebration. The festival is expected to be conducted in a city-based theatre and will be finalised soon,” he says.