IFFK from Feburary 10, to be held in four stages

The 25th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will commence from February 10, 2021. The conduct of IFFK will be subjected to the evolving situation of the global pandemic COVID-19. This is the silver jubilee of the film festival.

Four stages

According to the guidelines set by Kerala State Chalachithra Academy, the festival, this year, will be held at four places -Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Palakkad and Thalassery. The screenings will be held at five theaters in each district for five days.

The festival will be inaugurated on February 10 at Thiruvananthapuram and will be conducted here from February 10 to 14, at Ernakulam from February 17 to 21, From February 23 to 27 at Thalassery and from March 1 to 5 at Palakkad.

No cultural festivals

The regulations were announced by the state minister for culture AK Balan on Friday.

The minister said that the film festival which was generally held in December each year will be postponed to February 10 owing to the Covid pandemic. The minister said that 14,000 delegates used to attend the festival each year but owing to Covid this is not possible and hence the film festival is to be conducted at four venues. He said that movies will be screened at five theatres at each district.

While speaking to mediapersons Balan said: "All the cultural festivals as part of the film festival are cancelled owing to the Covid pandemic. Meet the Director, Press meet, Master class and discussion with foreign guests will be conducted online".

 

Screening concerns

Only 200 people will be permitted to enter a theater for screening.

The Kerala State Chalachithra Academy who are the hosts of the festival will have antigen testing facilities at the venues in association with the state health ministry. Delegates are expected to mandatorily produce Covid negative certificate taken fourty eight hours before the festival.

The films

12 Malayalam films have been selected to compete under ‘Malayalam Cinema Today’ category. These are: Gramavrikshathile Kuyil by KP Kumaran, C U Soon by Mahesh Narayan, Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam by Don Palathara, Love by Khalid Rahman, Musical Chair by Vipin Atlee, Attention Please by Jithin SK Thomas, Vaak by Kavya Prakash, Paka by Nithin Lukose, Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam by Senna Hegde, Paapam Cheyyathavar Kalleriyatte by Shambhu Purushothaman, Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 by Ratheesh Balakrishnan Pothuvaal and Kayattam (Height) by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan.

A panel chaired by director Mohan and with members S Kumar, Pradeep Nair, Priya Nair and Father Benny Benedict picked the films in the 'Malayalam Cinema Today' category.

Meanwhile, Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Churuli and Jayaraj’s Hasyam have been selected for competition in the International category. Filmmaker Mohit Priyadarshi’s Hindi film Kosa and Akshay Indiker’s Marathi film Chronicle of Space or Sthalpuran have also been selected in this category.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.