Even as star dust and cinematic magic envelope the city for the next one week, it is a punishing schedule for those working behind the scenes of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), which begins in Thiruvananthapuram on December 9. Each festival throws up its own challenges and it is a Herculean task to manage crowds thronging the venues. It calls for unsurpassed managerial skills for handing people from different walks of life, including temperamental artistes, bureaucrats, politicians, impatient activists and enthusiastic delegates.
Officials and staff of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy rise to the occasion with enviable efficiency and statesmanship: films have to be screened on time, reasons given to booing crowds if the screenings are delayed, or god forbid, if they are cancelled, technical glitches resolved and VIPs treated with courtesy, even those in the mood for a tantrum. As the IFFK moves into its 21st year, there is a grace and maturity that comes with experience. Legally speaking and if the IFFK were a person, he/she would be an adult!
Among the few women curators in India and the world such as Mitu Bhowmick, founder director of the Indian Film festival of Melbourne, and Jasmine Jaisinghani, artistic director of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Bina Paul Venugopal, artistic director of the IFFK, is not new to the exhilaration, confusion, panic and, above all, the celebration that accompany every festival.
This is her 15th year in the hot seat and after a break of two years, she is back at the helm of affairs of the IFFK. Besieged by people and phone calls, Bina sits Zen-like at the eye of the storm, mostly calm and collected.
In a chat, Bina talks about some of the highlights of the 21st edition of IFFK and its the place in the cultural landscape of Kerala and India…
How does it feel to be back after a two-year break?
The break has helped me a gain a new perspective, as distance often does. I was able to travel, be on jury panels of other festivals and also curate some. There is a new sense of direction and a feel of how the landscape of film festivals are changing and growing the world over.
My last assignment, as head of the LV Prasad Film and TV Academy in Kazhakoottam, Thiruvananthapuram, gave me a new exposure.
What are the highlights to watch out for in this festival?
There are many this year. In addition to the usual curated sections such as Indian Cinema and Malayalam Cinema Today, there is a package of films on sexuality, ‘Gender Benders.’ Then we have a package of movies on immigration and migrants. In fact, the opening film, Raftan from Afghanistan, is also one on migration. The IFFK takes note of the struggle of the transgenders with ‘Gender Bender’.
There is a retrospective of K.S. Sethumadhavan’s films. We pay tribute to art and artistes with a package of films. Another interesting section of five movies is ‘Night Classics.’
The Aravindan Memorial Lecture is by writer, producer and director Haile Gerima, who hails from Ethiopia and lives in New York. He talks about the challenges filmmakers face in a new world.
We begin a new event to pay homage to P.K. Nair with a symposium in his name that discusses censorship. Shyam Benegal will deliver the keynote address. The country in focus is Kazakhstan.
Why Kazakhstan?
Because in many of the festivals I attended, some of the most interesting films were from that country. Filmmakers there are still supported by the government and it was wonderful to see the kind of films that are being made in that country. I am sure our delegates will enjoy the package. Retrospectives, special screenings, homage section… the films on offer represent the best from different parts of the world.
Over the years, the IFFK has introduced filmmakers like Kim Ki-Duk, Pedro Almodavar, Majid Majidi, and many more who have become household names in Kerala. Is there someone’s works that are bound to create waves of excitement…?
I think it should be interesting to watch out for Mia Hansen Love’s works. She is a young filmmaker and it should be a new experience for delegates to watch her films, along with films of greats such as Ken Loach and Czech master filmmaker Jiri Menzel’s Closely Watched Trains . Menzel is also being conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
