Ten international films across as many languages will vie for the top honours in the competition category at the 20th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) this December.
The list features Iranian film Mamiroo (Immortal) directed by Hadi Mohaghegh, Philippine film Anino Sa Likod Ng Buwan (Shadow Behind the Moon) directed by Jun Robles Lana, Palestinian film Degrade directed by Arab Nasser, Nepali film Kalo Pothi (The Black Hen) directed by Min Bahadur Bham, Israeli film Yona directed by Nir Bergman, Brazilian film Clarisse ou alguma coisa sobre nos dois (Clarisse or something about us) directed by Petrus Cariry, Haitian film Meurtre à Pacot (Murder in Pacot) directed by Raoul Peck, Turkish film Dolanma (Entanglement) directed by Tunc Davut, Kazakh film Bopem directed by Zhanna Issabayeva, and Bangladeshi film Jalaler Golpo (Jalal’s Story) directed by Abu Shahed Emon.
In Mamiroo , Mohaghegh explores the story of a lonely, self-loathing old man who repeatedly attempts suicide because of a guilty conscience, while Lana’s Tagalog feature Anino Sa Likod Ng Buwan takes an unwavering look at a refugee couple’s terrifying struggle for survival and tenuous alliance with a military man.
Cariry’s dark supernatural drama, Clarisse ou alguma coisa sobre nos dois , is an oniric, dream-state exploration of the physical, corporal and sensual featuring multiple intertwining narratives in the film.
Both Kalo Pothi and Degrade search for sparks of dark humour and fragile innocence in times of conflict. The loss of their titular black hen in Bham’s film leads two village boys on a carefree search of the war-torn environment in insurgency-ridden Nepal.
Nasser’s metaphoric comedy about 13 disgruntled Palestinian women trapped in a beauty salon in the Gaza Strip is chock full of double entendres – the title itself denotes both the situation in Gaza and a French hairstyle.
In Meurtre à Pacot , Peck uses the backdrop of the devastating 2010 earthquake to weave a tale of how an upper middle class affluent couple in Port-au-Prince come to terms with their loss and the new challenges they face.
Davut explores a similar theme in Dolanma using as protagonists two woodsmen brothers who struggle in the face of changed familial circumstances an uncertain future.
