Watch to your heart's delight

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The sixth day of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on Wednesday offers the maximum number of movies in various categories. Movie lovers get a final chance to watch some of the entries in World Cinema category that received rave reviews.

This includes 'Dogs and Fools', 'Summer 1993', 'The young Karl Marx', '120 BPM', 'Kupal', 'Wood Peckers' and 'Good Manners'. Movies in the international competition category such as 'Candelaria' and 'Returnee' too will be screened for the last time in the festival on Wednesday.

'Candelaria' is a Spanish movie by Jhonny Hendrix telling the love story of an elderly couple Candelaria and her husband Victor Hugo. Sabit Kurmanbekov-directed 'Returnee' narrates the story of a Kazakh family of the Saparkuls returning from Afghanistan to the historical homeland. The return is not easy. They take life in its stride and adapt to the situation.

Films in homage category such as 'Swaroopam' (K R Mohanan), 'Nagrik' (Ritwik Ghatak), 'Mrugaya' (I V Sasi) and 'Aayirathil Oruvan' (B R Panthulu) will be screened in the festival only on Wednesday.
Malayalam film 'Randuper' in the international competition; films in 'Malayalam Cinema Today' category such as 'Karutha Joodhan', 'Thondimuthalum Druksakshiyum' and 'Take Off'; 'Thottam' in retrospective category, 'Deshatanakilikal Karayarilla' in With Her category will be screened on the same day.

Eagerly awaiting the winner

As the 22nd IFFK enters the sixth day, movie lovers are keenly awaiting the film that is going to bag this year's Golden Peacock award. All the 14 films in the international competition category have been screened. Most films have met the expectations of the viewers, said the organisers.

The festival started with Lebanese film 'Insult' which saw the active participation of delegates. 'The Young Karl Marx' got the viewer's attention from the first screening itself. 'Candelaria' and 'Newton' are two other films which received applause.

Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, Chad's culture minister Mahamat Saleh Haroun, filmmaker Aparna Sen and legendary Bengali actor Madhabi Mukherjee have graced the venue for serious discussion on movies. In the last five days, delegates have watched over 100 films. This year, there are 190 films from 65 countries.

'There is no victory without risks'

The present-day filmmakers who try to create profit out of trouble-free ways are a real challenge to good cinema, says American film director, producer and writer Ayoub Qanir. His critical comment came during the ‘Meet the directors’ session at Tagore theatre on Tuesday.  Ayoub's movie ‘The world of which we dream doesn’t exist’ is competing in the international competition category.

"There is no victory without any risk. Chaos and challenges must be embraced in films," he said. The discussion addressed the thoughts about life and existential questions. Directors Anup Singh (‘Song of the scorpions’), Semih Kaplanpoglu (‘Grain’), Nikhil Allug (‘Shade’), Prem Shankar (‘Randuper’), Satish Babusenan, Santosh Babusenan (‘Maravi’) and actress Nina Chakraborty (‘Maravi’) also took part in the event.

Russian filmmaker at Fort police station

The officers of Fort Police station were in for a surprise when Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov paid them a visit on Tuesday. Curiosity got the best of him and he started asking a series of questions to Assistant Police Commissioner Dinil J K. He wanted to know if the police chased down suspects, what kind of vehicles and weapon they use, etc. According to him, the stations are smaller than the ones in Russia. He event went inside a lock up room.