Watching a young crowd fill a movie hall in Thiruvananthapuram had once reminded Golda Sellam of bees that moved in a pack. She had been to film festivals around the globe as a consultant, but Golda still found it amazing that so many people in a state would be drawn towards cinema and filmmakers from another part of the world. Ten years later, she expects no less. Golda is joining the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) this year as a curator of world cinema. The fest begins on December 8 with over 180 films from across the world scheduled to be screened for the next eight days.
At the Tagore Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram, the epicenter of the IFFK, the delegate cell opened on the evening of December 6. Golda, who had just arrived in town, said she was overwhelmed by the attention the festival gets. “Ten years ago, I had come as a member of the jury, and watched in awe several people gathering around Kim Ki-duk,” she recalled. The late South Korean filmmaker had been a favourite of the festival for years.
People wanting to discover new talent from all over the world reminded her of home. The French too are like that, she said. It may be hard to pin a particular year as the one when the festival grew into such a huge event. In 1996, for the very first edition held in Kozhikode, it was a festival of 100 movies screened by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation to celebrate 100 years of cinema. Two years later the Kerala Chalachitra Academy took over the reins and added a competition section for films of Asian, African, and Latin American origin. Thiruvananthapuram became the permanent venue, and pre-Christmas December, the time of the event.
It became a norm to see unusual crowds in the capital in the first weeks of December, a time of late nights and free spirits. A disruption of any sort came only in the years of COVID-19 when the December fest was moved to February and March in 2021 and 22. By next December the fest reclaimed its old dates.
In 27 years, many changes gave the festival, known for its democratic vibes, a sort of decorum. Technology made its way into the fest, letting online reservations reduce the rush. New recognitions were added to acknowledge the work of filmmakers fighting for the rights of people. ‘Spirit of Cinema’ was added in 2021 and after Kurdish filmmaker Lisa Calan and Iranian director Mahnaz Mohammadi, it is Wanuri Kahiu from Kenya who will receive the award this year. Wanuri who has won numerous awards and directed the dramatic feature From a Whisper has also co-founded a collective for promoting African art. Her 2018 film Rafiki, about a love story of two women, created a lot of discussion on LGBTQIA+ rights as homosexuality is still not legal in Kenya. The film had faced a ban in the country until a court order lifted it.
All three times, the Spirit of Cinema award went to women. Incidentally, there is a separate category called Female Gaze at the IFFK this year, focussing on films by women filmmakers. Golda, who has curated world cinema, is especially thrilled by this section. As a curator, she is filling in for the artistic director, a post left vacant this year. Veteran film editor Bina Paul Venugopal has held it for more than 20 years of the festival. Last year Deepika Suseelan had taken over the role, but this year, Golda was called in all too late. She has managed though, she said, to find a fine selection of young female directors.
There are eight films in the category from different cultures and genres including horror. Tiger Stripes from Malaysia, the horror film, is one of the two selected for midnight screenings at the festival, along with the famous 1973 film The Exorcist. Another practice that the IFFK introduced a few years ago, screening a scary film at 12 in the night in the open grounds of Kanakakunnu Palace. That is also the venue for those who had missed out on registering for the festival and could enjoy free screenings every day.
Six other theatre complexes across the city will host the festival, apart from Nishagandhi (Kanakakunnu) and Tagore. The schedule has been released on Thursday, December 7. The country of focus this time is Cuba, with six Spanish films from 2006 to 2020 making the list. At least three of these are set in the 1950s, the period of revolution.
Four Spanish films also made it to the competition category which has 14 entries in all. Following tradition two of these are in Malayalam – Family and The Sentence. Incidentally, quite a few young filmmakers from Kerala have made the selection - Don Palathara with Family, Nathalia Syam with Footprints on Water, Prasanth Vijay with Inheritance, and Shruthi Sharanyam with B 32 Muthal 44 Vare among them.
“Works of masters like Ken Loach (The Old Oak) and Hirokazu Kore-eda (Monster) are also part of a package. Perfect Days (by Wim Wenders) is another. In world cinema, we also have a number of acclaimed films like Anatomy of Fall and Endless Borders which won accolades at the International Film Festival of India,” said an official at the Chalachitra Academy.
Ken Loach, who takes films about working-class people in Ireland, has been another favourite at the fest for a few years. Yet another IFFK-frequenter Krzysztof Zanussi is getting the Lifetime Achievement award this year, and this will attract some interest. The Polish filmmaker had once engaged in a war of words with late Communist veteran P Govinda Pillai when he visited the IFFK in the 1990s. However, the Left government in power is accepting of differing political views and will warmly welcome the Polish legend, said Communist leader and former Minister of Culture MA Baby.
Other surprise entries include an animation package with three films included in it - The Siren (Persian), The Peasants (Polish, Latin), and Sultana's Dream (Spanish). The opening film is Sudanese, Goodbye Julia, portraying the relationship between two women from two different communities.
A package of anti-war films is also part of the list, with Palestinian movies like Omar and Degrade getting mentioned as from ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory’ about the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza.