The 28-day-long 27th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) was kicked off today, December 9, at Nishagandhi Auditorium in Thiruvananthapuram. And Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the prestigious film festival.
At IFFK, the Suvarna Chakoram award-winning film will receive a cash prize of Rs 20 lakhs, while the best director who will receive the Rajata Chakoram award will be bestowed with Rs 4 lakhs. In addition to that, a cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs and Rs 2 lakhs will be awarded to the best debutant director and the director who wins the audience poll during the festival, respectively. Lastly, the KR Mohanan endowment award will be presented to the best debutant director in India with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
Following the inauguration of the festival, the first screening will be of the film Tory and Lokita. Iranian director Mahnaz Mohammadi, who fights for women’s freedom in Iran, has won the Spirit of Cinema Award 2022. The Greek director and jury member Athina Rachel Tsangari will accept the award on Mahnaz’s behalf. The Iranian authorities have banned the director from travelling because she participated in protests in Iran.
Earlier, the State Chalachitra Academy, headed by film critic CS Venkisteswaran, along with Veena Hariharan, Prasanth Vijay, Rahul Riji Nair, Benny Benedict, and PV Shajikumar, announced the list of films that will be screening at the festival. It includes the Iranian film Hoopoe, directed by Mehdi Ghazanfari, the Turkish film Kerr, helmed by Tayfun Pirselimoglu, the Israeli film Concerned Citizen by Idan Haguel, the Brazilian film Cordially Yours by Aimar Labaki and the Tunisian film Alam, directed by Firas Khoury, among others.
The 27th edition of the IFFK will witness the screening of 186 films. Over 1,200 delegates, 3,000 students and 200 film workers will attend the film festival. Earlier, in an event, the state’s education minister, V Sivankutty, officially unveiled the logo of the 27th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala.
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