 The 16th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) started on Friday. It is being scheduled at a time when Malayalam cinema is passing through one of the toughest phases. The strikes called by various Associations related with cinema had dampened the spirit of movie lovers and weakened the industry.
This year has also witnessed the increase in the number of delegate passes issued for the Festival which can be considered as a good sign.
The 16th IFFK will begin with the screening of Chinese director Zhang Yimou's 'Under the Hawthorn Tree'; will showcase an array of novel movie experiences. The major highlight of the film festival will be the competition section, in which eleven movies from the Asian, Latin American and African countries will compete for the Suvarna Chakoram. This time, there will be only two Indian films for the competition. At the 'End of it All - Abosheshey' (Bengali), directed by Aditi Roy and 'Delhi in a Day' (Hindi-English) by Prashant Nair will compete.
The Latin American presence in the competition will be marked by Mexican movie 'A Stone's Throw Away' (Director: Sebastian Hiriart), 'The Cat Vanishes' (Carlos Sorin) from Argentina, 'The Colours of Mountain' (Carlose Cesar Arbelaez) from Colombia and 'The Painting Lesson' (Pablo Perelman) from Chile. The only African representation in the competition section is 'The Dreams of Elibidi' (Nick Reding, Kamau Wa Ndung'u) from Kenya. 'Black Blood' (Zhang Miaoyan- China), 'Body' (Musthafa Nury- Turkey), 'Flemingo No:13' (Hamid Reza Aligholian-Iran), 'Future Lasts Forever' (Oscan Alper-Turkey) and 'September Rain' (Mathar Ailowl-Syria) are the movies from Asian countries.
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