Celebration of cinema
SARASWATHY NAGARAJAN
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The 10th International Film Festival of Kerala, which begins on December 9, will be a window to cinema from all over the world.
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Achuvinte Amma
It is that time of the year when Thiruvananthapuram becomes the rendezvous of film lovers all over Kerala and India. The curtain will go up on the tenth edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on December 9 and for eight days the festival is a window to world cinema.
It is a celebration of cinema, of light and sound, as a kaleidoscope of cultures and civilisations, issues and controversies, romance and reality unfold on the big screen.
Over the years, the festival introduced audiences to cinema from countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Rich with retrospectives, special sections and open forums, the festival attracts programmers from many international film festivals.
"What is new this year will be a workshop on script marketing, an exciting new field that promises to augur well for our cinema," says the man at the helm, T.K. Rajeev Kumar, Chairman, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Acknowledging that the response to the film market had not been very encouraging, Rajeev says: "Marketing strategies have changed and now the emphasis is on joint productions. We have companies that are interested in investing in films. Since the concept is new, we decided to hold a two-day workshop (December 11 and 12) that will cover aspects like financing a film, budgeting and writing a successful script on. Next year, the script market will be in full swing."
The competition section has 14 films; Kamal's `Perumazhakalam' is the only Malayalam film that is in the running for the Golden Crow Pheasant Award.
"This year we had 135 entries to select from. Moreover, we are proud that there was an entire section on Malayalam cinema at the Brisbane film festival and in Amsterdam. It is definitely because of our festival that brought programmers to Kerala and exposed them to the best of Malayalam cinema," avers Rajeev.
For the aficionado
Giving more details of the festival, Bina Paul, artistic director of the festival, says, "Like every year, we are focussing on a master and also introducing a filmmaker. The retrospective on Jean Luc Goddard is a tribute to him. Five of the Goddard films have not been seen in India. Kim Ki Duk, a filmmaker from Korea, is the new face this year. He used to make movies that were full of violence and suddenly there is a change and now his movies are on Zen and reflect a serenity that is very different from his earlier movies."
Kanne Madungaka
There would also be retrospectives on Isabella Huppert and M.T. Vasudevan Nair.
A documentary on sports is a segment this year. "These documentaries are not mere reportage but will go into the politics of sports. It is a celebration of the human spirit," explains Bina.
The country in focus is Turkey. Some of the films in this section were made by Turkish immigrants in Germany and it throws light on their angst, anguish and desperate search for identity.
Daiva Nammathil
Continuing IFFK's interest in Africa, another interesting section is `Beyond the Veil.' It focusses on films by women filmmakers from north-west Africa. "Many of these are conservative societies. Despite the difficulties, there are women filmmakers who attempt to express themselves on celluloid. It would be interesting to observe their idiom and technique and the problems they confront."
The segment `Malayalam Cinema Now' features `Kathaveshan,' `Oridam,' `Kanne Madunguka,' `Ullam,' `Achuvinte Amma' and `Daiva Nammathil.'
Over the years
Reflecting on the improvements made over the years, Rajeev says, "Our handling of prints has improved a great deal. What we lack now is better facilities in our theatres. We need multiplexes with good audio and screening facilities. There are investors who are willing to build if they are provided space.
"But what many delegates enjoyed in Thiruvananthapuram was the enthusiastic participation of the audience. The packed theatres and informal interactions with local cinema buffs was a new but special experience for them."
Indian panorama
These are the movies that will be screened in the Indian Cinema Today section of IFFK.
`Nishijapon' (Bengali); director: Sandip Ray
`Kranthikaal' (Bengali); director: Sekhar
`Uttarayan' (Marathi); director: Bipin Nadkarni
`Hasina' (Kannada); director: Girish Kasaravalli
`Herbert' (Bengali); director: Suman Mukhopadhyay
`Srigaram' ( Tamil); director: Sharada Ramanathan
`Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara' ( Hindi); director: Jahnu Barua
`15 Park Avenue' (English); director: Aparna Sen
`Parzania' (English); director: Rahul Dholakia.
COMPETITION FILMS
`Antharmahal' (Bengali), director: Rituparno Ghosh
`A Border For Life' (Iran, Persian), director: Reza Azamian
`Bride of Silence' (Vietnam, Vietnamese), director: Doan Minh Phuong and Doan Thanh Nghia.
`Day Break' (Iran, Persian), director: Hamid Rahamanian
Hi Bi: Days of Fire (Japan, Japanese), director: Banmei Takahashi
`I love Cinema' (Egypt), director: Osama Fawzi
`Perumazhakalam' (India, Malayalam), director: Kamal
`Playing in the Dark' (Brazil, Portuguese), director: Toni Venturi
`Silver Salt' (Brazil, Portuguese), director: Carlos Gerbase
`Kekexili' (China and U.S.), director: Lu Chuan
`Stolen Life' (China), director: Li Shaohong
`Arizona Sun' (Argentina, Spanish) directors:
Dir Miguel Rocaa and Daniel Pensa
`Guerrilla Marketing' (Sri Lanka, Sinhala), director: Jayantha Chandrasiri
`Dreaming Lhasa' (India, English), director: Ritu Sarin, Tensing Sonam
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