The 26th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will be held in February 2022, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy has announced. This time, it will be conducted only in Thiruvananthapuram from February 4 to 11, 2022. The inaugural ceremony will be held on the evening of February 4 at the Nishagandhi Auditorium, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan opening the festival. In December, the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, between December 9 and 14. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy conducts both the film festivals for the Department of Culture.
The IFFK will be held across 12 film theatres in Thiruvananthapuram, and the IDSFFK will be hosted in the four theatres inside the Ariesplex complex in the capital. The documentary and short film festival will also be inaugurated by CM Pinarayi at Ariesplex Audi 1 on December 9. All COVID-19 protocol shall be followed for both the fests. Film theatres, since their reopening in November, have been allowing viewers who have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccination.
The 25th edition of the festival was held in February 2021, across four districts in Kerala, to reduce crowds amid the pandemic. It is usually held in the month of December, however, the dates were changed due to the pandemic.
The festival which began in Thiruvananthapuram was replicated in the other districts — in Ernakulam, Kannur (Thalassery) and Palakkad. The number of delegates were also restricted in 2021, unlike in previous years when several thousand people trickled down to Thiruvananthapuram.
The films for the IFFK have not been finalised yet. However, 14 recommended films in contemporary Malayalam and nine others in Indian cinema have been given out, though some are still awaiting confirmation from filmmakers. Among the Malayalam films, Nishiddo (Forbidden) by Tara Ramanujan and Avaasavyooham (The Arbit Documentation of an Amphibin Hunt) by Krishand RK will be in the competition section. The Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles) by Vinothraj PS and the Hindi / Kashmiri film Be Ches Ne Veth (I'm not the River Jhelum) by Prabhash Chandra are also in competition.
For the IDSFFK, all the short films and documentaries have been finalised and can be viewed on the site idsffk.in.