Iffk 2015 Official Daily Bulletin - Day 1

OPENING FILM

t is once again the time of the year, when film lovers from all over India and abroad head for Kerala for the week-long festival of the celluloid.

Into its 20th edition, IFFK continues to draw members of the film fraternity because of its high standards and rewarding experiences. IFFK offers professional as well as amateur film makers to share and experience the many nuances of film making and have their works evaluated by jury members of eminence. I would like to congratulate all associated with the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, the organizers of IFFK, and hope that the 20th edition of the festival would turn out as yet another delightful experience for all the participants.

Wishing all success.

Oommen Chandy Hon. Chief Minister, Kerala

Chen Zhen, a young student from Beijing, sent to Inner Mongolia to teach a nomadic tribe of shepherds, has to learn about existence in this endless, harsh and breathtakingly beautiful wilderness, about the most feared and revered creature of the steppes - the wolf.

Fascinated by their cunning, strength and ferocious beauty, he captures a cub and tries to tame it. This relation is threatened when a central government officer decides to eliminate a ll wolves from the region, whatever the cost. The movie is based on the bestselling book

by Jiang Rong omniet ommo et acernam, officab oraerae quae vit, te omnis sit maxime.

uring this celebration of film as a cultural fest, let me wish all the very best for this fest of pluralities.

Art was looked upon as a mirror held towards the societal visage right from the classical periods onwards. As art is a key force in inculcating the basic humanistic values, film plays a pivotal role towards this end. This becomes sharply relevant in our country today, as the divisive elements pop up in the social arena more frequently. Along with the artistic focus of the festival, humanism, too, has to come as a highlight. The packages and guests here would be offering the movie enthusiasts a mixed taste of the current world in its multifaceted aspects. I wish IFFK 2015 all success.

Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan Hon. Minister, Environment, Forest, Transport, Sports and Cinema

WOLF TOTEM | LE DERNIER LOUP

China, France/ 2015 / Colour / 119 min / Mongolian Direction: Jean-Jacques Annaud

Message

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D

M F Thomas

That was

a momentous start!

MF Thomas

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FFK, which has become a culturaltone-marker of the state of Kerala was inaugurated on December 17, 1994, by Sri. K Karunakaran, the then chief minister, at Kozhikode. IFFK was under the aegis of Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), led by the actor Sri. Sukumaran as its chairman and Sri. K Jayakumar IAS, the managing director. Many other vibrant personalities like K P Ummer, KG George, PV Gangadharan, M G Soma n, Soorya Krishnamoorthi and Rajiv Nath had dynamic roles in materializing it.

The films came from the Film Archives of Pune with the backing of the former Archive Director P. K. Nair who was also the festival director.

The Filmotsav (the current IFFI) conducted in Thiruvananthapuram in 1988 was one of the major factors that prompted the film societies like Chithralekha, Chalachitra and a few others to organize a major film festival in Kerala. The International Film Festival for Children conducted in Thiruvananthapuram by Children’s Film Society of India and the celebration of 100 years of cinema by the Soorya Film Society also gave a fillip to film societies to begin a film festival in Kerala.

The opening film was Marthandavarma, the second silent film in Malayalam. Birth of the Nation,

Battleship Potemkin, Our Daily Bread, Man of Aran, Olympia I & Olympia II, The Grapes of Wrath, To Be Or Not To Be, Miss Julie, Wages of Fear, Ugetsu Monogatari, La Strada, The Hour of the Furnaces, Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Cranes are Flying, Nazarin, The Island, Woman in the Dunes, 400 Blows, Closely Watched Trains, The Round Up, Hiroshima Mon Amor, Two Half Times In Hell were the films screened under world cinema category. Marta Meszaros, István Szabó, Nagisa Oshima, Costa Gavras, Carlos Saura, Lindsay Anderson, Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, Bernardo Bertolucci, Paul Cox, Claude Chabrol were presented in the Contemporary World Masters category. There were also slots like ‘Landmarks of Indian Cinema’ and ‘Focus on Latin America’, etc.

Malayalam directors like Ramu Karyat, John Abraham, Padmarajan, Aravindan and PA Backer were honoured in first IFFK as a part of homage to five Malayalam Masters. Muhafis directed by Ismayil Merchant was the closing film.

The major lapse of the first edition of IFFK was the late release of a festival book. Number of delegates had a steep rise in the next edition in comparison to

the previous year. The second edition of the festival has its own place in the history of IFFK on many grounds. It was the first festival that had foreign participation. The introduction of a platform for screening Afro-Asian and Latin American films proved to be an innovation, indeed. This move set the tone for later editions, which focussed on screening movies from the Third World. This edition had packages like Contemporary world cinema, Tribute to the Centenary of cinema, Women in Indian cinema, Malayalam cinema now, World War II films, Retrospectives on- Sathyan, Marta Meszaros & Mrinal Sen; also, shorts and documentaries, and country focus on Srilanka. The debate and discussion platforms like Mukhamukham, Open Forum etc. were introduced. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy founded in 1998 conducts the film festivals introducing variety of categories. The hike in participation including that of the foreign delegates has been an added feather on the hat of IFFK in 20 years of its evolution.

Prepared by: Amala T Chacko

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Welcome

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T Rajeevnath Chairman, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy & Festival Director, 20th IFFK

t’s long since IFFK has become an inevitable iconic spot in the cultural calendar, not only of the state of Kerala, but of the Indian subcontinent at large. The Afro-Asian and Latin American focus of the Festival has rendered it a rare slot in the global festival circuits, as well. This year, being the vicennial jubilee of the fest, we are really glad about its reputation for the popularity among ordinary film-goers and filmmakers alike. The unquenchable urge of film buffs has

IFFK Has To Be The

been a constant source of support this cultural treat has been banking upon. This edition also will prove to be another successful experience of a peoples’ sheer dedication to serious cinema in this small state of India. This edition turns to be a reunion of all the national and international cultural organizations. Let me whole heartedly welcome you all to this edition.

Happy viewing.

Gate Way

To The World Of Future Festivals W ith 180 films to be screened within 7 days, the 20th edition of IFFK has accomplished in opening an inclusive platform for all kinds of audience with diverse film genres. IFFK has achieved a character of its own during the short history it has passed through. Our focus now is to strive and achieve the prestigious status of being the first film festival in India in which films will be submitted without any prior invitation being made.

By 2020, IFFK should be a hub of film

sharing for all global film festivals. As a part, future collaborations with Dubai Film Festival would be hopefully realized at the earliest. UNESCO has to be a platform in popularizing movies of developing countries like Asia and Africa. This also opens vistas for IFFK to be a spinal market of world movies. The ultimate aim is to open up an international market at IFFK with a character of its own, and there is a long way to go in achieving it.

Shaji N Karun Chairman, Advisory Board, IFFK

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04th December 2015

The Crescendo of An Aural / Visual Treat…

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he film buffs are eagerly biding, all eyes and ears, for the inaugural ceremony of the 20th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) as the programme will be a sumptuous aural/visual treat for movie lovers. The world-renowned tabla maestro – the Guest of Honour at the festival’s curtain-raiser will treat the august gathering of dignitaries and delegates at Nishagandhi auditorium with the percussive magic. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will light the lamp, flagging off both the ceremony and the week-long festivity of filmic and artistic expression. The eminent Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, the IFFK Lifetime Achievement Awardee, will be felicitated in the function. The opening film, by the French director JeanJacques Annaud’s 3-D spectacular Wolf Totem, will follow the function.

The thirteen theatres and additional screening setups are all set to receive

the very vibrant audience with the routine as well as novel film packages.

In the World Cinema Competition slot fourteen films from across the globe compete for the Golden Crow Pheasant Award. A discerning collection of Malayalam Cinemas is screened under Malyalam Cinema Today. Indian Cinema Now showcases some of the celluloid representations of diversity from India.

Within the Country Focus category, a package of five Lithuanian-one of the Northern European Baltic states- films, and two Myanmar- Burmese- films would adorn the festival.

In addition to these, a cross-section of movies made around the globe is presented in the World Cinema section.

Tony Gatlif movies with their nomadic spirit will enthuse cinephiles in the Contemporary Masters in Focus. A slice of Contemporary Korean films in Korean Panorama, and seven films at curated sections of debut films First Look, films

depicting women as protagonists in Women Power, six films based on true stories in the curated section- Based On True Story ,too, would be the major attraction of this edition of IFFK. To add to the hues of experiencing films, the Aravindan Memorial Lecture, delivered by the well-known Australian script advisor and editor Claire Dobbin, with seminars and symposia this fest is going to be a gala of events for the film buffs in letter and spirit.

Moreover, to update the film students about the developments of film technology in serious films, a pack of Classic films from National Film Archives, Pune, in Restored Classics category, three films in Jury Films, films

by Lifetime Acheivement Awardee Dariush Mehrjui- as Life Time Awardee Films will be offering distinct visual and aural milieu before the audience.

Mammed montage

Zakir Hussain

The Music Genius At IFFK 2015 Z

akir Hussain is today appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have not only established him as a national treasure in our own country, but gained him worldwide fame. His playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study. The

favourite accompanist for many of India’s greatest classical musicians and dancers, he has not let his genius rest there.

Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Zakir’s contribution to world music has been unique, with many historic collaborations. The opening ceremony of the 20th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will resonate to the pulsing of Ustad Zakir Hussain’s percussive stylings.

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Signature Film 2015

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erala State Chalachitra Academy conducted a competition for the IFFK Signature Film 2015 in order to search for and promote young talents, fresh ideas, innovative storytelling and approaches to filmmaking from the wider public. A jury comprising the cinematographers Shri Ramachandra Babu and Shri Sunny Joseph, noted director Shri G.S Vijayan and KSCA chairman Shri T. Rajeevnath selected Shameer Babu’s entry out of 25 submissions.

Babu, who hails from Chala in Kannur district, is an animation film maker with 15 years of experience in the television and film fields. He has worked for Pogo, Cartoon Network and Doordarshan. The jury expressed its appreciation for Babu’s concept and the signature film was made under the banner of Moving Kraft animation studio and will feature the play of light and shadow through the five elements of nature being water, air, earth, fire and sky as its theme.

Any object that enters the path of light gets exposed and as a result casts its shadow which is a true form of representation itself. This essence of truth is universal and so are good films. When exposed to the light of truth, it casts a true representation of the society and things around it and helps in its betterment. Along with receiving an official citation, the director will be handed a cash prize of Rs 25,000 at the inaugural ceremony of IFFK 2015.

Partners

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20th IFFK Jury International

Julio Bressane

Jahnu Barua

Maxine Williamson

Nadia Dresti

Newton Aduaka

FIPRESCI

Delec Malcolm

Ershad kamol

Latika Padgaonkar

Suraj Prasad

Swarna Mallawarachchi

NETPAC

Meenakshi Shedde

Technical Partners

04th December 2015

Documenting

A Vanishing Way Of Life

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he 20th International Film Festival of Kerala kicked off with French director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s latest spectacular adventure into the heart of natural world, Wolf Totem. Chosen as China’s foreign-language Oscar entry of 2015, the movie is about the tale of an outsider acclimating to a vanishing way of life. It is an adaptation from the best-seller by Lü Jiamin, whose novel was received as a critique of Chinese modernization and environmental policies. “Wolf Totem's political message feels muddled, though one remains in constant thrall of its stunning cinematography and anthropological attention throughout.”

The story concerns Chen Zhen, a student who travels from Beijing to Inner

Mongolia to teach a nomadic tribe of shepherds during the Cultural Revolution.

But, it was Chen Zhen who had much to learn from them- about community, freedom, responsibility and life’s existence in the breathtakingly beautiful, yet, harsh wilderness. Entranced with the wolves there - whose behavior inspired Genghis Khan according to the village leader - Chen Zhen adopts a cub and tries to tame the ferociously beautiful creature. But the growing relationship between man and animal as well as the tribe’s ancient ways of life and the land itself is threatened when a central government officer decides to eliminate all wolves from the region at any cost.

As Annaud is no stranger in casting

animals in his films, most of the fantastically exciting sequences with wolves - like filming the pack on cliff tops in pouting choreographed ranks or a desperate attempt by the herders to head off a horse stampede in a blizzard - are mostly done in camera instead of CGI, thus making the landscape and painstakingly trained wolves the true stars. “Having made a number of successful fictional films and documentaries about wild animals, Annaud knows how to endow the film's wildlife with both character and realistic intention”, says Oleg Ivanov.

Jayasree C.

Festival Director T Rajeevnath, Chaiman KSCA Editorial Board Chairman J Ajith Kumar Convenor Renji Kuriakose Coordinator Jayanthi Narendranath Chief Editor S Rajendran Nair, Secretary KSCA Executive Editor Sadeesh Chalippadam Associate Editor Mammed Montage Assistant Editor TM Hisham Sub Editor Haris Nenmeni Reporters Amala T Chacko, Jayasree C, Keerthana Mannayam Stills Ajay Saga, Shijin V K Design & Layout Shabeer M P Layout Assistant Saeed Fasal Printing Akshara Offset, Thiruvananthapuram Editorial Support Haris Kormath Printed & published by S Rajendran Nair, Secretary, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, Thiruvananthapuram on behalf of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Govt of Kerala.

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C. S. Venkiteswaran

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FFK is into its 20th edition this year. From its humble but passionate beginnings in 1994 at Kozhikode, it has travelled a long way, and has created a niche for itself among festivals in the country. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Film Society Movement in Kerala, which still has a remarkable presence across the state. In fact, the idea of international film festivals was first implemented and later mooted at the government level by the film societies in Kerala, whose enthusiasm was reciprocated

by Kerala Film Development Corporation in the beginning, and later the Government of Kerala. The overwhelming popularity

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of IFFK and the dreams it evoked has also contributed to the establishment of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an Academy for Film by a State Government, for the first time in India.

The most enduring features of IFFK are its focus on content, vibrant participation and democratic organization. The films and filmmakers of the Third World, whose works and vision have a lot in common with our socio-political and economic predicament, have always had a prominent place in the festival. IFFK was always a cineastes’ festival, giving premium to the quality and content of films rather than glamour and glitz. Its organization has never been bureaucratic but open, democratic and one with space for voices and visions of dissent and difference, values that have become all the more relevant in the world we live in.

04th December 2015

Dariush Mehrjui

A Maverick Director of Iran Pradip Biswas

D

ariush Mehrjui is the most critical filmmaker of Iran since the 1970s.

Remembered as a maverick director who really spearheaded Iran’s cinematic renaissance, his two films like The Cow and The Cycle triggered a nasty controversy by the conservative establishment. Mr Naive (Agha-e Haloo), his third feature, was a kind a reaction to his unscreened film The Cow which became a box-office hit. His next film, The Postman (Postchi) was a political metaphor based on Karl Buchner's Woyzeck.

Dariush Mehrjui was born on December 8, 1939 in Tehran. In 1959, he left for California to study cinema. He attended a number of film courses. His subjects are so realistic and depicting gray, grimy and restricted life and society of Iran. The Cycle (Dayereh Mina) was said to have been kept in the shelves for four years and then it turned to be one of Mehrjui’s most successful films abroad.

He was involved in the revolution and shot miles of reels of its daily events. At this time Mehrjui was challenged by his Govt to the extent that he had to settle in France for a couple of years and he could just make a docu-fiction on life of the great French poet, Arthur Rimbaud.

On return, he made The Lodgers (Ejareh Neshinha) which is still considered as the best comedy of Iranian cinema.

Mehrjui's most popular film among the Iranians is Hamoon which was the most controversial film of 1990 and it marked Mehrjui's shift from social issues to a

more personal cinema. By personal cinema he means using his medium in his maverick manner and introduced much of poetic symbolism and stream of consciousness in his works.

At the bandwagon of the Iranian New Wave movement of the 1970, Mehrjui introduced hitherto little-explored and innovative cinematic themes, treatment and narratives. Infused with an aesthetic mix of realism and symbolism, his films helped foster the keener development of art house sensibilities among a fast-maturing cinema audience. After debuting with the unsuccessful Diamond 33 (1966), a big budget parody of Bond films, Mehrjui found acclaim and recognition with The Cow (GAAV) in 1969.

Incidentally, his films are said to

have found kinship with the works of Roberto Rosselini, Vittorio de Sica and Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen; his oeuvre possesses a distinctively Iranian flavour in part because they are ardently and mostly inspired from Iranian literature.

Mehrjui’s magnum opus, The Cycle (1975) was banned for three years before being released in Iran in 1978. “Mehrjui is an all time uncompromising artist and a master filmmaker who knows how to invest his subjects with contemporary sensibilities. I saw his two of controversial films The Cow and The Cycle that tell of saddest thought. His formative films are an indication to what great filmmaker he could be in times to come”, says Mrinal Sen.

Ajay Saga

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