IFFK has not broken its tradition. There is going to be a Kim Ki-duk film this time as well among the 90 odd pictures coming from various parts of the world. It's called Human, Space, Time and Human. Then there's Jean-Luc Godard's The Image Book. Banned Jafar Panahi’s 3 Faces. Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. Lars von Trier’s The House That Jack Built. And Olivier Assayas’s Non-Fiction.
In the world cinema category, are 26 films having their Indian premiers and two with their Asian premiers.
Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows is the inaugural film. Asghar's film About Elly had won the Golden Crow Pheasant (Suvarna Chakoram) at IFFK, 2009. Everybody Knows tells the story of Laura (Penelope Cruz), a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, who returns to her hometown outside Madrid for a wedding. Unexpected incidents happen during the trip, bringing out secrets into the open.
Among the world cinema are also award winners like Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes, Ali Abbasi’s Border, which won the top prize in the Cannes Un Certain Regard, and Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass winning Un Certain Regard Award for Best Director.
There are notable films from women directors like Claire Denis with High Life, Naomi Kawase with Vision, and Mia Jansen-Love with Maya.
Those lined up for Indian premiers include Palme d’Or winner Jacques Audiard’s The Sisters Brothers, Venice International Film Festival Golden Lion winner Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot, Sameh Zoabi’s Tel Aviv On Fire and Benjamin Naishtat’s Rojo.
And for Asian premiers, there are Joao Botelho’s Pilgrimage and Lucia Morat’s Paris Square.
Other acclaimed films include Gaspar Noe’s Climax, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War and Alvaro Brechner’s A Twelve Year Night.
Four women directors in Competition category
It is two years ago that Vidhu Vincent became the first woman director from Kerala to have her film included in the competition category of the IFFK. There are works of four women directors this time in the competition category, among the total 14 films.
Turkish film Debt directed by filmmaker and actor Vuslat Saracoglu, The Silence by writer and director Beatriz Seigner, The Bed by Argentine actor and filmmaker Monica Lairana, and Taking The Horse To Eat Jalebis by Indian theatre artist Anamika Haksar.
Debt which narrates the tale of a family that decides to host a sick neighbour won the National Competition Golden Tulip for Best Film at the Istanbul Film Festival. It is the Asian Premiere of the film. The Silence portrays the story of a family fleeing from the Colombian armed conflict.
The Bed, which will have its Asian premiere, brings to screen a couple who are spending their last hours together before parting ways. Taking The Horse To Eat Jalebis, which is the director’s debut, screens the life and hope in old Delhi.