THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is time to witness the magic of visuals once again. A wide shot to mesmerise you with the scenic beauty of a distant land, an extreme close-up that will create an enchanting flow of emotions and more over the cleanness in story-telling. With the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) kick-starting on Friday, cinema aficionados are all set to welcome the poignant tunes of distant lands.
What increases the importance of this year's festival is that it is being scheduled at a time when Malayalam cinema is passing through one of the toughest phases. The strikes called by various Associations related with cinema had dampened the spirit of movie lovers and weakened the industry, which showed some positive energy earlier this year.
No major movies were released for almost two months. The Festival is a downpour after the drought. The increase in the number of delegate passes issued for the Festival can be considered as a good omen; it is expected that the film fiesta can bring the enthusiasm back to Malayalees.
The 16th IFFK, which will begin with the screening of Chinese director Zhang Yimou's 'Under the Hawthorn Tree', will showcase an array of novel movie experiences. The major highlight of the film festival will be, as usual, the competition section, in which eleven movies from the Asian, Latin American and African countries will compete for the Suvarna Chakoram.
This time, there will be only two Indian films for the competition. At the 'End of it All - Abosheshey' (Bengali), directed by Aditi Roy and 'Delhi in a Day' (Hindi-English) by Prashant Nair will compete for the coveted honour.
The Latin American presence in the competition will be marked by Mexican movie 'A Stone's Throw Away' (Director: Sebastian Hiriart), 'The Cat Vanishes' (Carlos Sorin) from Argentina, 'The Colours of Mountain' (Carlose Cesar Arbelaez) from Colombia and 'The Painting Lesson' (Pablo Perelman) from Chile. The only African representation in the competition section is 'The Dreams of Elibidi' (Nick Reding, Kamau Wa Ndung'u) from Kenya. 'Black Blood' (Zhang Miaoyan- China), 'Body' (Musthafa Nury- Turkey), 'Flemingo No:13' (Hamid Reza Aligholian-Iran), 'Future Lasts Forever' (Oscan Alper-Turkey) and 'September Rain' (Mathar Ailowl-Syria) are the movies from Asian countries.
This edition of the IFFK will also be ornamented with some interesting 'packages'. The 'Arab Spring' package with movies reflecting the contemporary life of Arabian countries and films with football as the core theme - 'Kicking and Screening' - are the major packaged attractions. Tributes will be paid to the Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety in the 'Retrospective' section.
'Century of Birthing', 'Clash', 'Fable of the Fish', 'Independencia', 'Kinatay', 'The Bet Collector' and 'TheBlossoming of Maximo Oliveros' are the Philippine movies that will be screened under the 'Country Focus' section.
This leg of the Film Festival will feature famous Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu as the contemporary master in focus. His autobiographical 'Yusuf Trilogy', including 'Egg', 'Milk' and 'Honey' will also be screened at the festival.
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