Curtain goes up for the 18th edition of FILCA International Film Festival on October 19 with the screening of Aalorukkam , which won laurels at the national and state film awards. The fete is at University Students Centre, PMG Junction, till October 25.
The fete brings in a broad spectrum view of cinema over the decades from across the world. Vying for viewers’ attention are Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator at one end of the spectrum and the Indian entry for the Oscars, Rima Das’s Village Rockstars at the other. Auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan will inaugurate the festival at 6 pm. Indrans, who won State film award for the best actor for Aalorukkam will be present.
‘Aalorukkam’
With every section having a flavour of its own, it is difficult to highlight the films that are a must watch. There is the ‘Master Strokes’ section that has Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman), Landscape in the Mist (Theo Angelopoulos), Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray), Bhuvan Shome (Mrinal Sen), Anantaram (Adoor Gopalakrishnan), Ivan’s Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky) and The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin). The best works of yet another auteur, G Aravindan, will be screened in the ‘Retrospective’ segment.
Short takes
The festival has ensured that the Short Film and Documentary section has films by established as well as up-and-coming talents. Bringing their films this time are filmmaker, critic and author, Madhu Eravankara ( Chettikulangara Kuthiyottam ) and Venu Nair ( A Life Re-drawn ).
‘The Great Dictator’
The new names in this genre are Yadu Vijaykumar with 21 Months of Hell , a take on the dark phase of India’s democratic fabric, the Emergency, Mukta Deedi Chand (Sunanda), and R Biju with Good Cinema and a Man – M F Thomas , a work on the seasoned film buff and film society veteran.
The Regent Maharani of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore, revered and held in awe, comes under the spotlight in Sujesh G’s The Last Queen of Travancore .
According to the director, she was a person who was far ahead of her times, but did not receive the space she deserved.
Roll of honour
Award-winning films that have won national attention find a place in the Contemporary Indian cinema category. This include Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s S Durga , Nagarkirtan , the Bengali film by Kaushik Ganguly, and Nila Madhab Panda’s Marathi work, Kadvi Hawa .
‘S Durga’
Films by Naomi Kawase, Kim Ki Duk, Yesin Ustaogulu, Agnieska Holland, Guillermo del Torro and Rayhana Obemeyer are included in the World Cinema section.
I Still Hide to Smoke by Obemeyer will wind up this year’s edition of the festival. Delegate passes will be available at the venue. Screenings begin at 9 am. There will be an open forum at 6 pm. Contact: 9446330368 or 0471-2490368
