IFFK 2010

International Film Festival Of Kerala is Ready to Go from 10th December to 17th December 2010 As per Schedule declared from the IFFK Office The Focus will be mainly on Central Asian and Black American filmmakers Nearly 200 Movies , with focus on Central Asian and Black American filmmakers, will be screened at 10 screening houses in Trivandrum in the annual 15th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) from December 10 and 17. THE REGISTRATION ARE OPEN The delegate registration is open on www.iffk.in with November 30 being the last date. At a press conference here on Sunday, Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (KSCA) and Festival Director of 15th IFFK K. R. Mohanan said renowned German filmmaker Werner Herzog would be bestowed with the lifetime achievement award. Vice-Chairman of the KSCA V. K. Joseph and other officer-bearers were present at the press briefing. A committee, headed by renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan chose Mr. Herzog, who would be present to receive the award at the inaugural function of the IFFK at the Nishagandhi auditorium. The award, instituted last year, carries prize money of $10,000 and a trophy designed by C. N. Karunakaran. Mr. Mohanan said 14 films from Asia, Africa and Latin America would be there in the competition section. PRIZE MONEY: The KSCA general council had increased the prize money in each category. The Suvarna Chakoram would carry prize money of Rs.15 lakh. It would be shared by the director and producer of the best film. The Rajata Chakoram and a cash prize of Rs. 4 lakh would be given to the best director. The Rajata Chakoram and a cash prize of Rs.3 lakh would be given to the best debut filmmaker. In addition, the Rajata Chakoram and a cash prize of Rs.2 lakh would be given as “Audience Prize.” BOOST TO MALAYALAM CINEMA: In its bid to promote Malayalam cinema, all Malayalam films selected for the IFFK would be given a cash grant of Rs.1 lakh each, which would be to be shared by the director and producer. The Academy would make a new English subtitled print of each of the films, which would be sent to other festivals, used for non-commercial screenings and preserved in the Academy archives. Mr. Mohanan said that approximately 50 films would be screened from all over the world in the World Cinema Section. Apichatpong, Oliver Assayas and Maria Novara from Mexico would be the film makers in focus. As part of the centenary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore, a seminar on “Explorations of the Epic and the Cinematographic Form: Flowing Traditions,” would be conducted. Kumar Shahani's “Char Adhyaya” would be screened in conjunction. An Arvindan Memorial lecture would be held on “the Journey of Bringing Asian Cinema to Centre State.” Eight films have been selected in the Malayalam Cinema section. A Retrospective of the well known German director Rainer Fassbinder would be conducted. His wife and editor would attend the festival. T. V. Chandran would be the Malayalam filmmaker in focus Over 8,000 delegates and eminent filmmakers were expected for the event.

Central Asian, Spanish films to be IFFK attractions

Movies from central Asia, Spain and Latin America will be the highlight of the 15th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) beginning here on December 10. Around 60 films from different continents would be screened in the World Cinema section of the seven-day festival, K R Mohanan, Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the organisers of the event, told PTI here. A total of 14 films from Asia, Africa and Latin America are included in the competition section of the festival. The Golden Pheasant award for best film would fetch Rs 15 lakh. The central Asian package would be a reflection of the problems the countries are facing as a fall-out of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the eighties and the subsequent re-discovery of their roots. ''Kardiogram'' from Kazakhstan directed by Darezhan Omirbayev, ''Saratan'' by Ernest Abdyjaparov, ''The Adopted Son'' by Aktan Arymkubat, ''The Daughter-in-law'' by Ermek Tursunov are among the films to be shown in the section. ''Orator'' from Uzbekistan by Yusup Razykov and ''Angel on the right shoulder'' by Djamshed Usmanov from Tajikistan would also be screened in the category. The Latin American package includes films in Spanish from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Parguay and Veneuzela, each film discussing their shared history and cultural memories. ''The Lost Republic,'' a documentary by Miguel Perez from Argentina on its long history of military rule, ''Machuca'' (Chile) by Andres Wood telling the story of the days of Salvador Allende''s socialist government in 1973 and ''The State of Things'' from Bolivia, directed by Marco Loayza are part of the Latin American package. The festival would open with the Iranian film ''Please don''t disturb'' by Mohsen Abdolvahhab. Eminent German director Werner Herzog would be felicitated at the inaugural function. Herzog''s films are to be screened at the festival as a special package