With just one day to go for the 21st edition of International Film Festival of Kerala, the capital city is buzzing with activities to set stage for the festivities.
The seven-day-long festival, beginning Friday, is organized by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy on behalf of Department of Cultural Affairs. Every year, film enthusiasts from all over the world throng Thiruvananthapuram to experience world cinema in one umbrella.
As many as 184 films from 62 countries will be screened at 14 venues around the city. Around 13,000 delegates have already registered and the distribution of delegate passes began at Tagore theater Wednesday.
Underpinning transgender friendly initiatives, organizers have also included a third category ‘transgender’ to make them part of the festival.
Although the total capacity to accommodate the delegates is only 9,000, the organizers hope that no untoward incidents will arise during the screening of the films. A total of 490 screenings of various films will take place during the festival.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival and veteran actor-director Amol Palekar will be the chief guest for the opening ceremony to be held at the newly renovated Nishagandhi auditorium.
Navid Mahmoudi-directed Afghan movie 'Parting', which revolves around the hardships faced by refugees, will mark the beginning of the 21st edition of IFFK.
Fifteen movies will be screened in the international competition category, while 81 films would be screened in the world cinema section. The other categories include Indian cinema now, Malayalam cinema today and retrospective section. Many films from Kazakhstan will be screened in the country focus section.
Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will be felicitated in the festival as he has completed 50 years in the film industry. IFFK has also included several films of women directors in this edition.
Three awards will be given for three categories, International competition, NETPAC, and FIPRESCI. The festival will conclude on December 16.