It has been almost a week and Thiruvananthapuram has been witnessing a rush of film buffs.
The 22nd edition of the prestigious International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will come to a close on Friday.
Known as people’s fest, delegate participation for IFFK has been increasing over the years, with serpentine queues visible outside several theatres.
As many as 10,000 delegates and filmmakers from across the globe have been attending the fest. The week-long fest has screened 190 movies from 65 countries.
While last year’s edition was embroiled in a controversy after 11 people were arrested for not standing up for the national anthem before the screening, the row this year was over not inviting National Award-winning actor Surabhi Lakshmi to the fest. She was, however, eventually given an official invite following the row.
A poll to decide the audience prize for best film was opened on Thursday.
The Golden Crow Pheasant Award with a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs for the best film will also be presented at the Nishagandhi open-air auditorium on Friday.
Fourteen films including four from India, will compete for the prestigious Golden Crown Pheasant Award. Among these, two are Malayalam films Randu Per (Two Persons) and Aden (Garden of Desire).
The winner of the Golden Crown Pheasant Award will be screened at the closing ceremony.
The fest had 465 screenings and most of them ran to packed audiences. Director and film critic Marco Muller is chairperson of the jury, while noted Malayalm director TV Chandran, Columbian actor Marlon Moreno, film editor Mary Stephen and Carelton University professor Aboubakcer Sanogo are jury members.
The focus of the fest was Identity and Space while the country in focus was Brazil.
This year’s edition will, however, not see cultural programmes as a mark of respect for the victims for Cyclone Ockhi.