IFFK fervour takes over Thiruvananthapuram
Just one more week to go before the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) descends for the thirtieth time in Thiruvananthapuram. For this edition, the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy will be using one more screen to show films (Kripa 1) thus taking the total number to 16, says its secretary and executive director of IFFK, C Ajoy. This invariably also hints that there would be more screenings for enthusiasts to relish in the IFFK curated basket. In addition, two additional packages are also included in the curated list: one comprising chosen Suvarna Chakoram award winners up to 2020, and another package of 10 films on select IFFK lifetime achievement awardees. The usual packages of films to be shown at the festival include seven films in the Indian Cinema Now category, 14 films in the International Competition category, eight in the Kaleidoscope section, and 12 in the Malayalam Cinema Today category. To me, the highlight is the Ritwik Ghatak centenary package with gems like Meghe Dhaka Tara and Subarnarekha in the list. Quite a tribute on the veterans centenary year, says Jyotirmayi Manoj, who has been to IFFK several times. Unlike previous editions, she will be attending this years IFFK as a film school student. More in the focus segments include the retrospective on Saeed Mirza, which includes the iconic filmmakers noted takes such as Salim Langde Pe Mat Maro and Arvind Joshi Ki Ajeeb Dastan. Meghe Dhaka Tara, part of Ritwik Ghatak centenary package. Saeed Mirzas Nukkad and Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyo Aaaya were so part of our growing up. The man deserves this, and we too deserve to watch him more, smiles Prasad K Balan, who is planning to visit Thiruvananthapuram for IFFK, taking a break from his sound designing work in Mumbai. Another retrospective in the IFFK bouquet this year is on Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, with the choicest among his 37 films being included. The anime trip continues this year too as Signatures in Motion, with a list of four award-winners from the Annecy Animation Film Festival, the exclusive fete for anime films being held in France since 1960. Striking in the list is Zaven Najjars hard-hitting adaptation of Ahmadou Kourouma's 2000 novel about the trials of a child soldier who gets caught up in civil wars in Liberia. The Spirit of Cinema award this year is for Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, a Canadian filmmaker who tells stories that shatter perceptions of Black people and contribute towards their social uplift, even while creating spaces that reflect healing and unity. When Morning Comes, her debut film that premiered at the TIFF 2022, is being shown at the IFFK. The presence of masters in IFFK continues with Indonesian director Garin Nugroho, whose five movies are being shown Bird Man Tale, A Poet: Unconcealed Poetry, Samsara, Whispers in the Dabdas, and Letter to an Angel. While IFFK is being given finishing touches, its regulars are gearing up to visit from different parts of the state and beyond. Hotels are being booked at a speed faster than last year, and city-based film buffs are gearing up to host their friends from other places. It is the time of the year when we get together. I have not missed even one festival since 2008, says Noufal Mariam Plathur from Kannur. The research associate at the University of Keralas Kariyavattom campus claims he has been offered an official pass this year, as his article that appeared in the magazine Yuvatara was selected as the best by the Chalachithra Academy. With the Academy giving finishing touches to IFFKs smooth functioning, the wait is now for the jury list as well as the eminent names who are to grace the occasion.
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