This year's International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will feature movies dealing with teenagers and problems of adolescence.
The 17th edition of the festival, scheduled to begin on December 7, will showcase five French films that portray teenagers and the mid-teens.
Sophie Letourneur's debut in feature film, La vie au ranch (Chicks) is typical of a teen-movie with extensive portrayal of smoking, drinking and partying. The 90-minute film revolves around three young girls and their apartment, affectionately referred to as "the ranch." The film falls under the genre of comedy, is a safe card in the game.
Similar to Letourneur's in theme is Riad Sattouf's The French Kissers . Set in the backdrop of Paris, the film talks about the usual process in teen relationships -- getting together, making-up, breaking-up, yelling at parents and yet with a sense of freshness added to it. The director focuses on the level of maturity between the sexes.
Love like Poison , directed by Katell Quillevere, has a subtle yet powerful theme. The film is on a 14-year old hailing from the countryside of Breton, who rejoiced in joining the Catholic Church. Adding a spiritual dimension to the film, the director is keen in making her audience analyse the psyche of the protagonist.
In Milkhael Hers' Memory Lane , the dominant emotion is nostalgia. The film starts off with the reunion of seven old friends. There is a reason behind each of the character's return: some for love, some searching for their lost childhood and the like.
Rebecca Zlotowski's debut film Belle Epine is on two young girls, Prudence and Maryline. The background of the two is distinctively different -- Prudence, a rich orphan; Maryline, a street smart. The only two common thing between them is that both were deprived of affection, and a sense of loneliness prevails throughout of their lives. It is due to this that both make themselves instant friends.
All the shortlisted movies are successful in exhibiting in real concerns of the new-age teenagers and the mental agonies they pass through.
