A total of 22 films are lined up in the World Cinema category of the 25th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala, set to begin in the capital on February 10.
Among the films to be screened are Wife of a Spy, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The film, which won the silver lion at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, is a historical drama. Iranian film The Wasteland, directed by Ahmad Bahrami, is on a brick factory supervisor, acting as go-between for the workers and the boss, when the boss is planning to shut down the factory.
The Man who Sold his Skin, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, is inspired by Belgian contemporary artist Wim Delvoye’s living work Tim. It premiered in the Horizons section at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, where Yahya Mahayni won the best actor award.
Italian director Uberto Pasolini’s Nowhere Special, Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s The woman who ran, Christian Petzold’s Undine, Malgorzata Szukowska and Michal Englert’s Never gonna snow again, Amos Gitai’s Laila in Haifa, Francois Ozon’s Summer of 85, and Ye Lou’s Saturday Fiction are some of the directorial highlights in the category.
Adhilkhan Yerzhanov’s Yellow Cat is a minimal movie that blends escapism and reality, as well as humor and tragedy perfectly. It is among the 10 Indian premieres along with Edmundo Yeo’s Malu, Pierre Monnard’s Needle Park Baby, and Uluc Bayraktar’s 9,75. Wei Shujun’s Striding into the wind and Zhang Dale’s Stars await us are also among the Indian premieres.
The COVID-19 antigen test for the participants of IFFK for the Thiruvananthapuram region will begin on Monday at the main venue of the festival, Tagore Theatre.
The Chalachithra Academy, in association with the Department of Health will provide facilities for the test of delegates, officials, volunteers, and staff from February 8 till 10.
Date of testing
All the participants registered for the festival will be informed about the dates and details of the test via SMS on their registered phone numbers. Academy secretary Ajoy Chandran said facilities had been set up to conduct antigen tests for 150 people an hour.
Delegates who test negative can get their kit containing the pass along with the negative certificate issued by the academy on the same day. Those who submit the COVID-negative certificate on their own will also be permitted to enter the festival. Only certificates issued from labs or hospitals 48 hours prior to the beginning of the festival will be approved.