Despite the ongoing pandemic, the city is keeping its date with the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).
The much-anticipated 25th edition of the festival will kick-off at Nishagandhi here on Wednesday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival at 6 p.m. Lighting of 25 lamps as a symbol of 25 years of festival heritage will be a highlight of the function. Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan will be the chief guest. Minister for Culture A.K. Balan will preside.
Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Jean Luc Godard, French-Swiss filmmaker who pioneered the French New Wave film movement. Mr. Godard will attend the ceremony online in the wake of COVID-19.
Bosnian film ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ will be the inaugural film of the festival. It is set around the 1995 massacre at Srebenica, during the Bosnian war, and looks at the aftermath through a new perspective. The massacre, in which more than 8,000 Muslims perished, was one of the most gruesome incidents of mass violence during the Bosnian war.
The film will be screened at Nishagandhi after the inaugural ceremony. MLAs V.K. Prashanth and Mukesh; Rani George, Principal Secretary, Department of Culture; T.K. Rajeev Kumar, former chairman, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy; and current chairperson Kamal and vice-chairperson Beena Paul will be present at the function.
Only guests and reserved delegates will be allowed to attend the opening ceremony of the festival, which declares solidarity with the survivors of the pandemic.
The inaugural will be held under strict COVID-19 preventive measures, including thermal scanning and fumigation of the premises of Nishagandhi.
