Kerala capital gears up for international film fest

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 3 (IANS) The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK 2006), beginning here Dec 8, promises to be a week-long treat for cinema buffs with 143 films from different parts of the globe set to be screened.

IFFK, which is into its 11th year, will see as many as 15 films compete for the Golden Pheasant Award for the best film, including movies from Asia, Africa and Latin American countries.

The festival will be launched in an innovative yet traditional way. Two bullock carts will be flagged off on the evening of Dec 7. They will go through the city streets announcing that IFFK 2006 has arrived.

The festival, known for it maximum audience participation, hopes to increase its viewership base even more this year. As the first step, organisers have already begun screening films shown in past IFFKs at select schools in the city.

"Children should be educated to appreciate good films too. This has already begun and has won wide applause," V.K. Joseph, vice chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy that organises IFFK, told IANS.

The academy also plans to take the films into the Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail and to juvenile homes.

"We are planning to locate a film which would be interesting for jail inmates and the children at juvenile homes," said Joseph.

In IFFK, eight films will be screened under the category Malayalam Cinema Today and seven films under India Cinema Today.

The films in the competition category include T.V Chandran's Tamil film "Aadum Koothu" (Dance of Life) and M.P. Sukumaran Nair's "Drishtantham" (Vision) in Malayalam.

"The Violin" (Mexico), "Dry Season" (Chad), "Angel's Fall" (Turkey), "Road Under the Skies" (Uzbekistan) and "Full of Empty" (Iran) are among the foreign entries in the section.

The festival is to be inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan. Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi and actress Sharmila Tagore will be the chief guests.

Around 30 film personalities of yesteryears are to be honoured at the inaugural ceremony.

Said Joseph: "The inaugural ceremony would be shown live on Dec 8 at four municipal headquarters of the capital."