IFFK to begin on Friday

Thiruvananthapuram: Young Israeli-Arab actor Tawfeek Barhom will attend the opening ceremony of the 19th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) here Friday.

The week-long movie gala, which attracts movie buffs from all over, will get underway with the screening of Eran Riklis's Israeili movie 'Dancing Arabs' in which Tawfeek plays the protagonist at the Nishagandhi open air auditorium in the heart of the city in the evening.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the festival and Minister for Cinema Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan will preside over the function.

As many as 140 handpicked films from across the globe will be screened in 10 different film packages including International Competition, World Cinema, Contemporary Master, Retrospective, Indian Cinema, Malayalam Cinema Today, Country Focus, Jury Films, Chinese Film Package, French Film Package and so on.

The highly anticipated World Cinema category has 61 films from over 37 countries. Of this, 12 are represented by woman directors.

While 'Retrospective' features films by Buster Keaton and Miklos Jancso, 'Contemporary Master' represents a bunch of renowned movies directed by Danis Tanovic, Naomi Kawase and Hany Abu-Assad. Fourteen movies are participating in the 'International Competition' category for the prestigious Golden Crow Pheasant award.

Veteran Chinese director Xie Fei will chair the jury panel of the Competition Section this year which also comprises Lawrence Kardish, Klaus Eder, Reis Celik and Sumitra Bhave.

The fest will also be the venue of various interactive sessions like, 'Meet the Director', 'In Conversation Sessions', 'Open Forums' and seminars along with exhibitions.

A record participation of over 9000 delegates are expected during the festival this time, the organisers said. The festival will conclude with a grand valedictory ceremony on December 19.