Onmanorama returns with Critics’ Choice for IFFK’s International Competition

Onmanorama returns with the second edition of Critics’ Choice at the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), currently underway in Thiruvananthapuram from December 12 to 19. Launched last year, the initiative closely examines films in the International Competition section, spotlighting works that leave a lasting impact beyond the final credits.

As with its first edition, a three-member panel comprising Swathi P Ajith, Aswin J Kumar and Ayyappan R will watch all the films competing in the international category. After seven days of screenings and conversations, the team will announce their top five selections on the final day of the festival.

This year’s international competition lineup brings together films from across the world, each shaped by a distinct cinematic voice. The titles include ‘Black Rabbit, White Rabbit’, ‘Cinema Jazireh’, ‘Cuerpo Celeste’, ‘The Ivy’, ‘Khidki Gaav’, ‘Kissing Bug’, ‘Life of a Phallus’, ‘Shadowbox’, ‘The Currents’, ‘The Elysian Field’, ‘The Settlement’, ‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’, and ‘Yen and Ai-Lee’. Together, these films explore a wide range of concerns, from personal loss and fractured identities to power structures, social divides and political realities.

Critics’ Choice was first introduced at the 29th edition of IFFK, when Onmanorama formed a three-member panel to assess the competition films. From the titles screened, five were shortlisted for standing out in terms of storytelling, emotional depth and cinematic craft.

Among last year’s selections was Alessandro Pugno’s ‘Animal/Humano’, which drew striking parallels between a teenage boy and a bull moving through the unforgiving world of bullfighting, questioning ideas of bravery, fear and expectation. Mariana Wainstein’s ‘Linda’ examined class and power through the unsettling presence of a maid who quietly disrupts the fragile order of a wealthy household.

Pedro Freire’s Brazilian film ‘Malu’ offered a raw, unflinching portrait of generational trauma shared by three women, resisting neat resolutions. In ‘Feminichi Fathima’, director Fasil Muhammed used gentle humour and sharp observation to critique patriarchy, centring the story on a woman’s struggle for something as basic as a good night’s sleep.

Topping the list was Iranian filmmaker Farshad Hashemi’s ‘Me, Maryam, The Children And 26 Others’, a warm and quietly defiant film that embraced cinema as a space for healing, resistance and human connection.