By Chintha Anil
December 13, 2014| 2.50 pm IST
A multi-hued cinematic fiesta has been promised for all the artistically indulgent movie-lovers in the upcoming 19th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) to be held from 12-19 December at Thiruvananthapuram. Under the tutelage of the IFFK Advisory Board Chairman, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, this much-awaited end-of-the-year annual cultural bonanza promises a rich and varied visual cuisine comprising 140 hand-picked movies from across the globe.
The panoramic choice of movies offered to the audience in this edition of the IFFK includes 61 foreign films (one of them being acclaimed Korean director Kim Ki Duk’s One on One) from 37 countries in the World Cinema Section, and which features the brilliant works of 12 women directors too. The jury as well as the audience will have the opportunity to view 14 movies in ten International Competitive Sections which include four Indian films, two from Iran and Morocco, and one each from Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, Bangladesh, Argentina and Japan.
Commemorating the centenary celebrations of Turkish Cinema which will be showcased in the Country Focus Section, it is rumoured that the Chief Guest for the 19th IFFK is none other than the fiercely reclusive Turkish auteur, Nuri Bilge Ceylan (he is yet to confirm)- his repertoire of just eight movies (almost all of them sweeping most of the coveted movie honours on offer, including the most recent prestigious Palme d’Or in this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his movie Winter Sleep), catapulting him into the elite echelons of genuine cinematic art.
Marco Bellochio, one of Italy’s cultural icons will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2014. His movie My Mother’s Smile too will be screened.
Seven films will be shown in the Indian Cinema Today Section which includes The Tale of Nayanchampa (Bengali) directed by Sekhar Das, Thousand Rupee Note (Marathi) by Shrihari Sathe, Gour Hari Daastan (Hindi) by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, Myth of Kleopatra (Hindi/English) by M Adeyapartha Rajan, Blemished Light (English/Hindi) by Raj Amit Kumar, Pannaiyarum Padminiyum (Tamil) by Arunkumar S.U. and 89 (Bengali) by Manoj Michigan.
As the IFFK website delineates, a line-up of award-winning films such as Vastupurush (Marathi) by Sumitra Bhave, Night of Silence (Turkish) by Reis Celik, and three Chinese films Black Snow, A Girl from Hunan, Oil Maker’s Family (Mandarin), all by Xie Fei comprise the Jury Films Section.
An array of seven films is lined up for viewing in the Malayalam Today Section. This consists of Six Feet High by Sanalkumar Sasidharan, Jalaamsham by M.P. Sukumaran Nair, Alif by N.K. Muhammed Koya, Self-Portrait by Ranjith, Calton Towers by Salil Lal Ahamed, 1983 by Abrid Shine and The Enlightened by Santosh T.K.
Four restored movies of the silent era American legend Buster Keaton and five films of Miklos Jancso, the Hungarian film director and screenwriter, known for his extremely stylized visuals and also the winner of the Life Work Awards at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, will comprise the Retrospective Section in IFFK.
Known as the 'Poetess of Sinhalese Cinema’, Sumitra Peries will deliver the Aravindan Memorial Lecture as part of the IFFK festivities this year.