Celebrating Kerala Cinema at US festival

Washington, March 3 (IANS) Noted director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's masterpiece depicting the life and times of famed Kathakali dancer Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair marked the opening of a Kerala Film Festival here.

The screening of the Malayalam film with English subtitles at the Smithsonian 'Freer and Sackler Gallery' Friday was followed by a Kathakali performance by Anupama Dinesh Kumar and Seekala Varma. The film includes fascinating backstage views into performers' lives and magical footage of Kathakali performances.

The "Celebrating Kerala Cinema" festival from March 2-18 presents six films from the state's distinguished cinematic tradition and marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the south Indian state.

Other films being screened are Anup Kurian's moving, tragi-comic love story, "Manasarovar"; Govindan Arivindan's sensitive blend of the political and the personal, "Vasthuhara; T.V. Chandran's moving film about the caste-transcending friendship, "Ponthan Mada"; P.N. Menon's tale of tragic love "Olavum Teeravum"; and M.T. Vasudevan's intensely primal cinematic fable "Nair Nirmalayam".

The series has been co-sponsored by Varghese and Rani George in collaboration with the Asia Society Washington Centre in association with the Embassy of India.

On the eve of the festival, Raminder Singh Jassal, deputy chief of the Indian mission, hosted a dinner attended by a cross-section of American and Indian American communities.