Thiruvananthapuram: The 27th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), scheduled to be held here from December 9 to 16, will showcase 184 films from over 70 countries.
The IFFK will open with the India Premiere screening of Dardenne Brother’s masterfully crafted Tori and Lokita which premiered in the Competition section of Cannes Films festival this year and also received the Cannes 75th Anniversary Award.
This year, the IFFK will honor the unconventional and inspiring Hungarian Master Bela Tarr with Lifetime Achievement Award.
A legendary film pioneer, Tarr often highlighted humanitarian issues in his films using a unique cinematic philosophy, which soon grew as a cinematic concept that is followed by other filmmakers worldwide.
IFFK will have a retrospective of his films which includes Werckmeister Harmonies and The Turin Horse, two of his finest works.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will present the award at the closing ceremony on December 16 to Bela Tarr who is on his first visit to India. A comprehensive book in Malayalam on the maestro written by C.S Venkiteswaran is being published by the Academy on this occasion.
The film, which is a refugee drama portrays two African-born children trying to build a life together on the streets of Belgium.
This year, the festival gives a special focus on films from the silent and early talkie era through a retrospective of one of the first masters of world cinema F.W. Murnau and silent films with a live music section.
The Festival will have retrospectives of Serbian Master Emir Kusturica and Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Serbia, home to many internationally acclaimed filmmakers, is the focus country for the current edition and the section showcases 6 distinguished films from contemporary Serbian cinema.
As the Kerala Government has always supported individual voices and expressions of protest through art and cinema, the IFFK reinstates it by awarding Mahnaz Mohammadi with the Spirit of Cinema Award.
The festival will have a specially curated section of Silent Films with live music by BFI Resident Pianist Jonny Best. Jonny is one of a small number of pianists specializing in improvising silent film accompaniments.
The festival’s most alluring segment comprises five films, including the centenary screening of F. W. Murnau’s much-acclaimed silent horror film Nosferatu. Five of his prominent films will be screened in the retrospective section.
Serbia will be the Country in Focus. Six Serbian films are slated to be screened in this category including Milos Pusic’s ‘Working Class Heroes’ which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival this year.
The movie ‘The story teller’ deals with the plight of old aged people will be screened at IFFK under the category of Indian Cinema.
The movie directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, is an adaptation based on the short story ‘Golpo Boily tarini Khuro’ penned by none other than Satyajith Ray.
The movie, which discusses the mindset of people who exploit and are exploited, revolves around the central character Tarini Ranjan Bandhopadhyay.
Paresh Rawal, Adil Hussain, Tanishtha Chatterjee and Malayali actress Revathi plays the lead roles in the film.The movie has been screened in various film festivals including Busan and had received good response.
