Online registration for the 25th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will begin on Saturday, January 30. All COVID-19 protocols will be followed at the festival venues.
The IFFK, organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, will begin in Thiruvananthapuram on February 10 and end on February 14, following which it will be held in Kochi (February 17 to 21), Thalassery (February 23 to 27) and Palakkad (March 1 to 5).
The online registrations will begin at 10 am on Saturday. Delegate fees for the general category is Rs 750 while for the students, it is Rs 400. Delegates should register at the venue closest to their hometown.
The Lifetime Achievement Award for this edition will be presented to renowned French-Swiss filmmaker and critic Jean-Luc Godard. He is known as a pioneer of the 1960s French New Wave film movement. Some of his notable works are Breathless, My life to live, A woman is a woman, Contempt and Pierrot le Fou. He has made 45 films in all.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. However, the filmmaker will not be able to come to get his award since the COVID-19 situation continues to pose a threat. He will attend the function online while veteran Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan will receive the award on his behalf.
A total of 8,000 passes will be distributed this time — 2,500 each to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, and 1,500 each to Thalassery and Palakkad. Each venue will screen films in six theatres for five days each. Only half of the seats will be occupied during a screening.
The different categories of films, as usual, include international competition, Malayalam cinema today, Indian cinema, world cinema, homage, retrospective, jury cinema and so on. A total of 80 films will be screened at the IFFK this year.
Passes will be distributed two days before the festival begins. Only those who test negative for the coronavirus will get them. There will be facilities for antigen testing, arranged by the Chalachitra Academy.