Ceylan to be chief guest at IFFK

Nuri Bilge Ceylan is so shy that he worked mostly with his family members for his first few films, to avoid directing strangers.

The master of contemporary Turkish cinema could be in for a shock in Kerala, going by the mob frenzy surrounding the arrival of Kim Ki Duk for the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) last year. The audience here have a particularly peculiar way of showering their love, unlike what he is used to.

Awaiting decision

According to sources at the Chalachitra Academy, they are waiting for the “final yes” from Ceylan, who is set to be the chief guest at this year’s festival. In more ways than one, this perhaps is the apt year for the man who has never gone empty-handed from Cannes to make an appearance here.

Turkey in focus

For one, Turkey is the country in focus at this year’s IFFK. Ceylan, if he makes it, will be coming here after the crowning glory of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his three-hour epic Winter Sleep , which will be screened here.

His oeuvre is familiar to the Kerala audience as over the years, most of Ceylan’s films have been screened at the IFFK. One film most of them will readily recall is the 2006 film Climates which follows the slow painful breakup of a couple over changing seasons, with him and his wife bravely casting themselves as the troubled couple.

Once upon a time in Anatolia , his previous film on an investigation team in search of a dead body in the countryside, was also warmly received here in 2012.

In between, there was Three Monkeys , on a driver taking the fall for a politician’s mistake and his family falling apart in a swirl of corruption and adultery.

‘Slowness’ is one word which everyone uses when talking about his films. It cuts both ways, as adulation and criticism, is mostly based on this factor.

His charactersget into long mundane conversations interspersed with deeper reflections.

Gokhan Tiryaki’s cinematography filled with long takes and the protagonist’s face turned away from the frame in key scenes adds to the slow pace that the master is known for.

Ceylan, who draws inspiration from Anton Chekhov’s stories, is sure to be the toast of IFFK this season.